The Supposedly Final Game! (Final Fantasy Thread)

[Skull]

All this discussion about FF7 Remake sequel lately has gotten me nostalgic about the times that I would spend on long transit journeys alone and would pass the time by taking along my PSP and inserting my UMD of the Advent Children to watch as it was something I could never get tired of...despite FF7 being one of my least favourite in the franchise. Then I remembered that I got the Director's Cut of AC some time ago in a buy one get one free deal and I felt like checking out what the extra twenty-something minutes of content actually changed anything important.

All in all, I had a good time. The movie really still holds up visually, especially the designs of the monsters and whatnot. Having become a musician as an adult, I was acutely aware of how the soundtrack is used in ways that went over my head as a child. It definitely felt like the new scenes (and the extensions to pre-existing ones) weren't created for the sake of it or as an afterthought because the movie flows a heck of a lot better without the janky scene transitions that were in the original. Denzel was definitely rescued as the added backstory that more clearly explains where he came from and why I should care saved what was easily the weakest part of the original movie for me. Marlene doing a Mr.T impression (yes I know it's meant to be Barret) is now the funniest scene in all of Final Fantasy for me.

As an aside, it was also nice just to hear all the old cast in their original roles - George Newbern in particular is irreplaceable as Sephiroth in my mind.

[TomPen94]

Finished Rebirth.

I'm... a bit torn. Overall I had a blast with the game and I sm quite looking forward to the third one, but there are some decisions that left me a bit confused, especially in the final stretch of the game.

No, I am your father

I should be upfront and say that Aerith is my favorite character and I went into yhis game wanting to weep. I wanted to feel devastated when the time for her to die came.

I was left teary eyed during the Dyne sequence so I was pretty confident the game would pull it off. I mean, if they managed to do it with a relatively minor character like Dyne, surely they can get me to suffer with my favorite character.

I think it is telling of how execution can make or break a scene when Chapter 13 had me at the edge of my seat and genuinely gasping in horror, but Chapter 14 had me scratching my head.

When the game has you controlling Cloud laughing like a maniac chasing after Aerith for the Black Materia it was terrifying, it was fucked up, and it was engaging. When Aerith almost fell down in that moment I gasped. It didn't matter that I knew she wasn't gonna die there, it was done so well I was caught in the moment.

But I think they dropped the ball for her actual death scene. I don't quite get what happened here? Was Cloud successful in blocking Sephiroth's strike or not? If yes, then did Aerith die "because she was supposed to"? If not, then... why did they dance around the scene proper? The shots that had blood didn't feel like they were the "real" shots, but rather visions from the original's continuity or something.
So... it didn't start off super well. And then we have the boss gauntlet. The OG had a Jenova fight here so it was appropriate to have a boss sequence, but man... it is so long. Long enough that by the end of it I'm no longer in that mindset for the goodbye scene. The Sephiroth boss fights were... really good actually. I hope we get more on wtf is going on with Zack but his appearance alongside Cloud was proper hype, especially with the fight starting with that callback to both the Remake and the OG's final attack. And the final 2v1 with Aerith was also a very fun fight. It was some KH2 shit taking place in some metaphysical space that is probably not even real, and I actually like that kind of shit.
But at no point during it did I feel like it was trying hard enough to tell me Aerith's time was up.
So when we return to the "real world", the scene that plays rings a bit hollow to me. Cuz the characters are reacting to it but I can't be there along with them.

And that is a bit of a shame.

Soundtrack is still 10/10. I finished the game with almost 100 hours but probably some 6 or 7 of those were just me standing around listening to the area's soundtrack. Give the sound team a raise, they were outstanding.

PS: Bruh the Shadowblood Queen completely steamrolled me...

[Ideofago]

Waiting for Remake part 3's been really boring
it's gonna be boring for a few more years I guess