A random grunt with a Kunsel fanservice comment singlehandedly diminished Tifa's plot significance as she's supposed to be the ONLY person (outside Seph) who knows that Cloud is the real one.
As a Tifa fan I'm so pissed at how they handled her at the Remake. When sections are supposed to be about her, it's not about her. She's not allowed to be hateful and vengeful to an organization that burned two of her homes unlike in the OG. She can't even rant to President Shinra's face! They keep cockblocking any conversation about what went down in Nibelheim but pushes Cloti fanservice. What a shitshow.
Almost 30 hours clocked. From Elmyra’s house, back to Sector 7, to the underground facility, then back to the house again.
They handled Tifa so disappointingly. I’m can only sigh and shrug.
All my Remake reactions are under #Danseru Review
I got Aerith’s dream scene so the thoughts under the cut has some LTD opinions:
So basically, in the span of more than 2 hours all I did is so check Sector 7, find Wedge and go back to Aerith’s house.
I’m getting tired of complaining about the amount of bloat. But why do I need to traverse the collapsed highway for this? Why put a boss fight difficulty obstacle (the machines) just for this?
Wedge is alive which is a deviation from the original. For what? So we will have an excuse to traverse through a dungeon for extra bloat? Yes I get it, we get to play Barret and Tifa without Cloud! But does that add anything to their characters? Did we hear the banter or talk about stuff we didn’t know before?
Can’t these friendship scenes between Barret and Tifa be accomplished within 5 minutes, more effectively?
The whole dungeon was so tedious. I died once fighting the unknown experiments and have to repeat everything. I did enjoy wrecking stuff as Tifa without Cloud around.
Yes, the underground experiment is redundant bloat when later on in Shinra HQ you can easily show Hojo’s lab.
To add to this, suddenly Cloud blurts Hojo is evil in front of Elmyra. Who the heck is this Hojo? If you’re a new player it’s like a new character introduced.
Oh okay they’re enticing me to do more sidequests before I go to the Shinra HQ. I’m so excited for those new fetchquests! I can’t wait for more bloat!
The Aerith dream scene
I’m pissed how I got it, because essentially it’s because I missed on Tifa sidequest and her apartment scene. A sidequest that doesn’t reveal anything and has no incentive to do except for extra gil.
But I felt Aerith’s sequence makes more sense in context: it’s her house, she needed rescue, she has superpowers that connects to the Lifestream and she isn’t there. In the morning Cloud also says that Aerith is calling for him.
I’m not sure what to feel about her saying, “don’t fall in love with me because it isn’t real.” Either Cloud proves that right or wrong which may end up pulling Clerith to more definitive directions. But it also makes no sense unless she knows Cloud has some kind of issues.
Overall, so far they handled Aerith so much better since when it’s about her, then the whole narrative is centered on her. When Tseng finally asked her to come with him, it’s focused on her decision to confront her destiny.
And sadly Tifa wasn’t given the same treatment.
My sentiments on Tifa
So she returns to her neighborhood and bar, a place she apparently lived in for a few years and... nothing! Why isn’t she calling out to neighbors! Wouldn’t she know people door to door? Shouldn’t she be counting which ones of the people she knew were still alive? It doesn’t feel that Tifa is part of the community at all! The scene and the narrative didn’t make it like Tifa should be the center of this scene. It made me feel the story doesn’t care about her, especially this is a repeat of her trauma in Nibelheim.
I watched the Tifa sequence to compare and I became more pissed. Not because I didn’t get it, but because it’s needed.
It shows Tifa mourning, crying and needing support. That’s perfectly okay. But why does it have to be unlockable? They’re right there! So are you saying to me, that I need to do 6 senseless sidequests just so I can see Tifa mourn for the tragedy? SE can suck its own ass.
It doesn’t even have to be romantic! Tifa can mourn and look for support as she does she Cloud as a friend.
But even if I do get this scene or not, it still has some problems regarding the fact that Nibelheim burned down 5 years ago where Cloud was supposed to be absent. Cloud and Tifa never discussed it yet. It’s a huge elephant in the room that they avoided to touch all the while putting all these Cloti fanservice.
Versus Aerith, when it’s about Tifa and her connection her community and Avalanche, it’s handled in a sloppy manner because they have to hold the truth to preserve the revelation in the future entries. It’s so unfair and infuriating that Tifa is held back because she’s a walking spoiler of Cloud’s past, but even if she was, they could have done better her connection with Avalanche and Sector 7.
All my FFVII Remake reactions will all be tagged #Danseru Review
From the Mako Reactor 5, Aerith’s church, Sector 5 quest up to the Rude bossfight. Possibly 13 hours at this point.
I’ll try to keep it not about the Love Triangle Debate as possible but I’ll also be honest.
We finally meet Aerith! I already reacted to first impressions in my last post and I really welcome the expansion of their first meeting. The church escape, the rooftop hopping and back to Aerith’s house was a delight. Seeing the view of the slums from a higher vantage point is what Remakes are for. The spark of a first rapport, Aerith’s teasing and flirting vs Cloud’s stoic and cool demeanor take you back why people shipped it at the first place.
Nothing happened much in this chapter just like Chapter 3 where we spent an hour doing sidequests with Tifa. Some impressions and thoughts:
I forgot to note in the previous playthrough: Heidegger (or was it President Shinra), mentioned that Soldiers die early due to cell degradation. I’m not sure if it’s in the OG, but if it’s not, then it’s a direct nod to Crisis Core.
I think the map design for Sector 5 is superior to Sector 7. The church, the giant trash heaps, the shanty and the train station felt less tunnel and more natural. Probably because the places have more character overall. Sector 7′s highlight is Tifa’s bar that never opens, and the darts game. The factory with drakes and the landfill felt uninspiring.
Although I have mixed feelings on something: why is it full of flowers? The point of Aerith’s church is that its the only place where flowers grow and that it’s super rare. I remember in the OG, Aerith’s house does have flowers but not a full garden with swimming fish. Realistically, poor and desperate folks would strip that place to the bone and sell the flowers themselves.
I have a theory: I think the game development started in the Reactor + Sector 8 before SE restarted everything. It may explain why Sector 8 feels like a tunnel stage with fake walls, and we have premature Sephiroth flashbacks for marketing purposes.
Yes there are still bloat quests (surprise!). At first I liked the kids and how they helped Cloud become softer and less selfish. However after one quest, it goes on and on and on. Like how many more sidequests do we need???
As for Aerith as a party member: She is opposite to Tifa in a sense she fares poorly against, numerous, small opponents which Tifa is good against. I’m a bit annoyed that when I take control of her, the AI attacks her instead even if Cloud is right there hacking them. Sometimes narrow places help in crowd control. I do like her as a healer as she heals a huge chunk.
The Rude bossfight is fun and also hilarious. He gives Aerith a karate chop to knock her down, but he hits Cloud harder and throws him.
I don’t really like the LTD but I still have to share some thoughts. I’ve already prepared myself for possible negative reactions: They improved Cl3rith this time by expanding on their first meeting and initial interactions. It’s also heavily implied the “Hollow” song is for them as it plays in Sector 6. The game capitalizes on the essence of the pairing: that it’s a new experience for the both of them and yet also feels like its fated.
Cloti suffers in terms of flow and structure, which frustrates me since I’m biased for Cloti. Tifa represents the opposite of Aerith in a sense that she is supposed to be someone more familiar, and the last person that connects to Cloud’s past. By stretching the story between two Mako reactors, Cloti added flirting and dialogues yet also dragged their most essential connection all over the place. The childhood flashbacks, The Promise (which is beautifully animated exceeding my imagination) all take place when Cloud is NOT with Tifa. Tifa is right there when Cloud has a flashback of her father’s death, but no time to discuss it. It’s like they’re making an excuse for them not to talk about it so they reserve it for future parts.
But still, when Aerith asks Cloud, “is she your girlfriend,” and Cloud replies, “it’s hard to explain” I think that’s very telling. He can’t straight up say, “she’s my friend” or “I have business with her.” His feelings for her are complicated.
No, I don’t think anyone is in love with anyone at this point (Chapter 8). I’ll see where the rest of the story takes me.
All my FFVII Remake reactions will all be tagged #Danseru Review
I’ve played from the first time Cloud went to Tifa’s apartment to the train tunnels on the way to the next reactor mission (haven’t finished that part yet). So far I’ve clocked 6:40 hours as of this point.
I’ll try to present my thoughts in a semi-chronological order, there are a lot that happened.
Avalanche
They’re really building the members more this time with additional dialogues and backstory. So far I’ve only learned about Jessie.
Jessie asked Cloud to sleep with her wow. Girl knows what she wants nice. Unnecessary but I refused her, even if I’m tempted to have a “yes” option lmao.
So they have a different faction now (which came out of nowhere in that particular context). If the new faction finds Barret extreme (am I correct?), and they aren’t?
I get why Avalanche is portrayed to be less extreme in 2020 due to 1) political climate in real life 2) since the game is only Midgar, the other evils of Shinra can’t be included yet.
I can’t wait to see Barret not be Mr. T., I’ve heard good things.
So are we assuming Cloud and company do not kill grunts but just knock them out??? What kind of half-hearted movement is to commit terrorist acts, but not too much to make them look evil? What do they hope to accomplish by damaging Shinra equipment? I’m not sure what kind of change they’re going to bring with their methods.
Tifa/Cloti
I love her gameplay: fast and close ranged. My heart flutters when she makes some combos with Cloud.
Yes she’s so beautiful to look at! Her Japanese voice is so calming.
She’s written differently from the OG, which people may like or may be indifferent with. In the OG she doesn’t show sympathy with Shinra employees or shown to openly disagree with Avalanche.
Personally, I would accept these changes with Tifa if they give us a significant character development later. Only if we actually listened to Tifa voicing out her objections to the Avalanche mission. If they want Tifa to be the “kindest” Avalanche member, let me hear her disagree!
The Promise Flashback is so beautifully animated but it came out at an odd time. Cloud randomly remembered it instead of Tifa bringing it up. It’s just so out of the flow. In my opinion it should belong to a Tifa scene rather than in a middle of a mission with other people.
Flirty scenes were cute.
Others/Gameplay
There’s. So. Much. Bloat. I get it - new players will never see this as bloat. As an old player, it makes me impatient and bored at times.
Particular bloat I dislike: the mandatory fetch quests in Chapter 3, the artificially prolonged quests like the rat mission, the long tunnel fight to Jessie’s parents, and that random Johnny quest.
I don’t mind Sector 7 as a hub, I like how they fleshed out the community and made it feel like slums (I live next to one so I know). The problem is that sidequests should be totally optional and I wish some give you some meaningful lines from Tifa.
I played darts like a dozen times!That’s the type of optional stuff I actually like. So far my record is 13 throws.
I like Jessie’s sidequest I do, in terms of character motivation. But what have we learned from the characters by doing that long warehouse mission? Not much. We got an energetic Soldier Second Class guy, but he neither made me laugh or made me care.
I like the NPC background comments, fleshes out the world more.
There is no pro-Shinra perspective that’s actually explored properly. They’re going with the angle that Shinra employees are people too, but it seems the game still makes it that the company is evil without explaining its necessity. It’s an electric company, it fuels the economy, it makes life convenient! Why aren’t we hearing these things and we only get comical employees on the train?
Again the dementors are something I really don’t like as of this point. OG feels steampunk/sci-fi. These new things add this kind of mystical/supernatural element. You can argue the Cetra/Ancients are mystical themselves, but that’s why they’re shown to be extinct and exclusive to Aerith. Moreover, there are scientific explanations on their abilities (like how they are connected to the Lifestream).
Overall, I really understand how the Remake did it. They carefully crafted the city, the world to their new vision, and what they intend is clear. But do I want Midgar to be this expansive at the expense of the core plot? I still don’t. At six hours in the OG I would have met Aerith, did the Wall Market mission and possibly finishing Shinra HQ by now. Call me an old player, but I prefer tight, efficient, and streamlined storytelling. Sidequests and extra missions should be compartmentalized.
Finished FFVII Remake and will give reaction and a longer review tomorrow.
Short verdict: Pinnacle of Final Fantasy gameplay and beautifully animated, but a weak reimagining of a classic story into something shallow as a puddle. It makes more sense if seen as a fanfiction rather than a standalone story.
@nautilusopus @cateringisalie might be interested.
All my FFVII Remake reactions will all be tagged #Danseru Review.
General impression: It’s better than FFXV! Combat is better with materia/spells, ease of controls, even if it feels hack and slash sometimes. I’m so far enjoying it, but not attached as of now.
What I like:
It looks really nice, both character designs and the background. They recreated the locations faithfully
The variety of Cloud vs Barret gameplay. I can’t wait to play Tifa and Aerith. In the OG tbh, the party members don’t differ much except for Aerith, Yuffie and Cait Sith maybe.
The music is just beautiful
Aerith and Tifa are just gorgeous!
Minor nitpicks
Japanese audio doesn’t have subtitles for NPC chatter in the background.
Jessie’s boobplate
Fake walls to limit the map size (cars, debris, trash)
So many damsel moments
Barret doesn’t sound like I imagined him to be. I expected him to be angry and a leader makes the audience realize the gravity of the situation. I felt he sounds more like a troublemaker/punk and they’re trying to make him funny.
Major problems
DEMENTORS. I don’t want to hate them but I might. I don’t get the point of including them.
Avalanche are now framed rather than responsible and overall I don’t like their lack of gravitas. So they planned to bomb just to send a statement rather than actually bring down a reactor? It seems... half hearted? I get it that it’s harder to sell the characters as heroes when they commit terrorism acts, but this strips away the complexity of the original.
Sephiroth’s full face introduction feels... too early, less mysterious and unscary? He might look intriguing to the new players maybe, but to me it feels like it lacked gravitas. Which brings me to my next part...
Major laughing moments:
Some of Sephiroth’s moments with Cloud are just... ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) I can’t take them seriously! I’m laughing hard at the apartment scene, it’s just a perfect set up for something else. I’m supposed to feel sorry for Cloud and scared for him, but I just can’t lmao.
For all my reactions for the entire game, they’re under #Danseru Review. This is not going to be reaction for the entire game but just the final chapters.
I finished my last run just after I climbed to the upper plates on the way to Shinra HQ.
So Tifa, Cloud and Barret look over to the sunset against the ruins of Sector 7. Instead of meaningful introspection of the weight of their actions and the devastation, Cloud is his usual edgy self, and Tifa is about rebuilding a bar. They talk like the bar burned down instead of thousands of people dead. I cant see any character growth from Cloud at 40+ hours and he’s really bland.
Shinra HQ in general
I geniunely love the moment when Cloud screams “Tifa!” and runs to her when she falls from the parkour stuff. I felt it’s one of the few genuine Cloti moments that doesn’t feel like fanservice. While it’s hella boring to do that platforming section (I’m played Uncharted and this is meh), I love controlling Tifa.
I debated whether I’ll take the stairs or the elevator. In the Original I took the stairs and it was worth the humor. I checked the cut scene of the elevator and it has more of Tifa’s “Shinra employees are humans too” bullshit (not her, but the writers). So I opted to the take stairs and it’s a delight because Barret is entertaining.
The museum and Mayor Domino
I think this section makes sense showing us Shinra’s history and propaganda but like my usual gripe, it’s not characterful. I must say Barret is decent throughout this section as he gives his thoughts and expresses his feelings over the matter. While Tifa and Cloud, who are supposed to have personal grudge over Shinra barely offers commentary.
I don’t have feelings over the mayor but he feels like a convenient ally to introduce so late in the story. It makes sense he’s a puppet leader. I just wish we can read stuff in his office for lore. Also I’m pissed his attendant tried to sell me information, and it turns out I should have accepted it for Barret’s gun? What a joke.
Aerith and Hojo’s Big Lab
Okay, Hojo seriously creeps me out, especially that part where he talks about impregnating Aerith and breeding her either with Seph or Genesis. (Shudders) I do feel that this captured the original...
But geez those Whisperers preventing Hojo from revealing the truth about Cloud not being in Soldier. I really hate the Whispers.
Yay finally she’s back. I have like three staffs that need some proficiency and I was itching to use Aerith again. I like seeing her room when she was a kid, but it’s just so cold when she was trying to say her mother was taken everyday, and Cloud was like “tell us about your past.”
Nanaki! Nice to have you around but sadly I can’t control you. He’s adorable.
Again this section is super bloat. On the upside, you get to play Tifa and Aerith together. The girls vs dogs was challenging and fun. You literally have to keep on going with Tifa and just one second of pause will make the dogs shred you.
I felt this section is similar to the sun lamp chapter that just drags soooooo long and just bloat. It makes no sense they’re suddenly on board with helping Hojo do his things because “otherwise we can’t get out of here.” Seriously?
Shinra President and Rufus
I’ve already expressed how much I hated this section because it makes absolutely no sense for Tifa’s character: https://www.tumblr.com/reblog/623070870698590208/EivVTTuc
It’s because again, Nibelheim Must Not Be Revealed Except Vague Flashbacks.
Jenova Dreamweaver! Tifa is an amazing tentacle smasher. Otherwise easy boss fight.
Also it makes no sense Cloud will remain and fight Rufus? Why? How is Rufus relevant to him as a character based on what he displayed so far? Barret makes more sense based on how he’s acting.
The Counter strike of Cloud was literally made for this fight. It’s... ok and I used Poison for the first time.
The Bosses and the Highway
Barret and Aerith vs the tank boss is the worst boss fight in the game. It’s literally just torture and patience, and repetitive hiding behind pillars and waiting for that weakness point to pop up.
The highway as predicted, was bloated with so many fights and I died thrice to that final boss. I’m an idiot because at 50 hours I just discovered how to slow down.
At this point I’m super tired of boss fights after one another.
The Final Chapter
I’ll probably express it in a better review but it’s just a huge mess and I was just too tired to rant. I thought Aerith was the best adapted character up to this point until she reveals that it’s actually a fight for... destiny! That’s like Goku suddenly saying he’s fighting for animal rights, or Batman suddenly about Global Warming. It also makes me feel they recycled FF13-2 and Serah/Yeul regarding destiny and fate. I went WTF and it needed me 50 hours to really know what we are fighting for? Only Barret is consistent because he’s fighting for the planet and Marlene.
Easy boss fight that’s so boring. I didn’t even remember dying.
Also yes Sephiroth and Cloud are just so homoerotic together.
So apparently they allowed Zack, Biggs and Wedge to live but people revealing Cloud’s past has to be silenced by the Whisperers. It’s so stupid I’m so tired of complaining. Also if you’re a new player, who the heck is Zack supposed to be?
Of all main Final Fantasy entries I’ve seen, Remake’s ending is the least emotionally moving. I hated FFXV but even at the end I went “awww” especially when they’re at the bonfire and talking about friendship.
The ending ties nothing together for the characters. I remember myself watching FFX and FF13′s endings over and over. Remake has nothing I wanna rewatch or relive. It’s a shallow story, weak character development and written with the assumption that the people are already familiar with the lore.
