I think I can see why Zack became so popular, Cloud fought for his friends and saved the planet, but somehow Zack always felt even more heroic, at least for me, maybe because his whole deal was to become a hero and in the end made the ultimate sacrifice, not necessarily a complex character, but a compelling one, so I'm glad we're seeing more of him in Rebirth
Everything that Zack is, Cloud is not. It’s not until near the end of FF7 that we see Cloud really honor the legacy that Zack left him. Not to imitate him any longer but carry on his dreams.
well def can see why. Cloud is everything zach isnt. Cloud was a antisocial, quiet, anxious yet compassionate child. Perhaps growing up without someone to really push him out of his fears, being despised by the town, growing up in poverty, no father figure (that's actually quite interesting), and his desire to be close to a specific girl (tifa)convinced cloud that to be really admired and taken seriously he had to become a Soldier. He even says that Sephiroth was his hero. Like many young boys he wanted a man to imitate. ITs to get respect and get glory in battle against ppl the state deems as enemies, not necessarily to be a agent of positive change. Zach on the other hand perhaps wanted to be a hero. we can infer that based on his personality. He isn't cold or antisocial; he's warm and inviting to anyone he likes. He volunteers to help others even when it will give him grief. Cloud, when he losses his memory, acts how HE thinks zach was-a rational, somewhat selfish, serious soldier-which you can see was more what cloud wanted to be and what he envisioned zach's life was. Remember, the two didn't know each other for a long time-and to cloud, having a guy like zach be his friend was like meeting your hero for the first time.
@@bradhorowitz2765 yeah, you're right, especially how Cloud's memories merged with Zack's memories messed up his mind, but also pushed him to be more of a hero, just like Cloud wanted to be as a child
I mean, Zack carried a sick, unconscious boy around the planet with him. He cared for Cloud, kept him safe and in as good of health as he could. He sacrificed everything for Cloud. In many ways, it's all very simple, but we rarely see anyone in fiction just put in the work for someone the way Zack does for Cloud.
Zack is a selfless protag who doesnt have the advantage in most situations. Cloud was cocky, sometimes boasting about what he can do in a way before his brain breaks. The two are complete opposites of each other but i think thats what makes them a great duo. Plus zack gave his all to save his friend and keep his promise to his girlfriend, doing everything he can for others. Such a great character
"Boy oh boy, the price of freedom is steep." this dialogue alone made Zack as my favorite character till now, let alone his final conversation with Cloud.
Zack is hands down my favorite FF character. As of recent I replayed Crisis Core and man it hits a lot different than it did as a kid, and because of all the lore for FF 7 series that has released since then. Seeing the banter between Zack, Sephiroth, and Angeal is tear jerking to say the least. Such a bright positive character goes through so much tragedy and has so much put on his shoulders but he never sways or wavers. Zack very much so protected his honor as SOLDIER and I cannot WAIT for CC remake this winter and the development timeline in 7 Remake Part 2....
For me, I think one of the things that really spark the love for Zack IS what we learned about him from Cloud's pov. Zack wanted to be here. Zack was a hero. Zack wanted to be there and help. Zack did those things. Zack, aside from being Cloud's best, if not only, true friend, was also his hero. Seeing how significant an impact Zack had on Cloud's life shows through with how well he tries to be idea of "I'm living for Zack. But Im also me. Im...?" And that struggle back and forth of being true to himself, but trying to be Zack and live for his friend and hero.
It's interesting that they so specifically wanted to portray Zack in such a positive light, usually this leads to characters who are bland and uninteresting, but Zack manages to be great and his "nice guy" persona adds to that
It's because his nice guy persona is something that is constantly tested by things that happen against his will, and you can really see that it's that spirit that keeps him going.
It always brings me back to the seen in Nibelheim where The world is falling down around Zack but he still tries to be positive for Cloud. Crisis Core made him amazing.
I think it works, because Zack as your typical "nice guy protagonist" in contrasted by the absolute crazy asses with Sephiroth, Genesis and Angeal to some extent. He's a normal man in extraordinary circumstances and thats cool
Zach being a nice guy is challenged by having one if the mist tragic stories in FF history. A story that would normally destroy a person's ability to continue being a true hero and following his dreams to the very end. Yet through those challenges he prevailed where nobody should prevail
I really like how Zack's character has a completely different personality than Cloud. Zack is more lively and has a "playboy-esque" characterization as opposed to Cloud's gloomy and serious personality. You also grow up with Zack when experiencing his story, as when the game starts he's just a teenager ready to take on the world, and by the end he matures into a man capable of taking on the world. It's sort of a breath of fresh air, as most final fantasies I've personally played tend to provide us with serious characters and protagonists such as Squall, Cloud, Noctis, Lightning, etc. (which isn't a bad thing! Their character progression shows throughout their adventures with their party members and friends) that characters such as Vaan, Zidane, Tidus, Zack, etc. really embrace a more goofy and light hearted side to final fantasies that really make you enjoy playing the protagonist more, in my opinion at least. When playing Crisis Core, I loved Zack and Cloud's little brother to big brother dynamic and hopefully more people can grow to love Zack's character when his new game comes out!
After crisis core, it kinda ruined cloud for me... IDK how are you supposed to "take his life" basically, and yet get everything but the sword wrong :P.. my opinion prolly off quite as bit on my thought process
WELL EXCUSE CLOUD FOR GETTING STABBED BY THE WORLD'S STRONGEST SOLDIER IN HISTORY AND WAKING UP YEARS LATER TO FIND OUT HE GOT SCIENCE RAPED BY HOJO AND HUNTED LIKE A FUGITIVE BY SHINRA WITH NO EXPLANATION. YOU MAKE IT SEEM LIKE YOU'D GO THROUGH THAT WITH NO TROUBLE AT ALL 😒
2 года назад+240
Zack is my favorite character in any FF game since I played Crisis Core. He’s this too good for his own sake guy that has a tragic ending, keeping to his ideals throughout no matter how hard the world spits on him for it. Seeing him come out alive at the end of FF7: Remake was one of the best experiences in a videogame I had in years, so much so it brought tears to my eyes. I’m of the opinion FF7: Remake is a masterpiece on the way it was presented and executed. So yes, more Zack Fair please.
@@willlauzon3744 I think dude is just grateful for Zack to appear on Ff7:R. We might get our answers on the next part of FF7:R on how is Zack alive and why does Aerith seem to have an idea how things are going to happen.
@@randominternetperson5806 I honestly don't care. It wasn't a remake and I hate retcons. I really really hate retcons. What was wrong with the original story?
Growing up with Crisis Core being my first FF game, I remember loving it to bits. I think the character of Zack and his ideals definitely left an impact on me till this day.
Me as well with CC being my first FF game. Zack was my personal hero as a kid and it tore me apart to see him at the end of CC. I'm looking forward to seeing his role in the next game!
CC was... I think my fourth or fifth? And still I love the hell out of it. But I love it for the same reason some people love those heartbreaking love movies like The Notebook. Sometimes you just need a good, cathartic cry. That ending shatters my heart every time.
@@blacksatoshi6486 "When the war of the beast brings about the world's end, The Goddess descends from the sky, Wings of light and dark spread afar she guides us to bliss her gift everlasting."
I think reason why we love Zack so much is because of how Crisis Core immerses you in the past of FF7. Nothing makes you get drawn into a story when you character build properly. You get to be an ally of Sephiroth and be there for the downfall. And the ending was more heartbreaking for me than Aerith dying in 7. I knew what was coming yet i still was sad at the end.
Seeing sephiroth in a positive light blew my mind playing the remake an watching him fall killed me cause it was the lies that did it man coulda stayed a hero
I remember playing FF7 as a kid and was curious about Zack after Aerith and Tifa have such big reactions to meeting his parents. It made him seem important and definitely wasted hours hoping to find him somewhere like Vincent and Yuffie. When CRISIS CORE released I didn't put it down for months. It was amazing playing and replaying a game that finally gave attention to a character I had always been curious about and he was such a good character!!! I easily fell in love with Zack Fair and his dreams of being a hero. Then the way he is connected to Cloud makes him all the more interesting for people who fell in love with the reluctant hero of the original game. We find out that Cloud is alive because of Zack's care and that he was a hero to the end. I replay CRISIS CORE at least twice a year since release and I'm proud to say that Zack is easily my favorite Final Fantasy character. I love so many of them, but he will always hold a special place in my heart.
I mean, Zack didn't just save Cloud. He really cared for him and protected him in a scenario where many people would have dumped Cloud as quickly as they could.
Same. Fingers crossed it'll happen. I'd adore a team up. Sure, some fans may be annoyed but after tearing up at crisis core reunion multiple times, all I can say is "so what? Happy ending please, our boy deserves it dammit" XD
Oh, to be a fly on the wall, when you got to the end of Rebirth. Hope you enjoyed that as much as I did, stranger! I was grinning like a madwoman the whole time.
I do think that Zacks story should be expressed more in the remake but I think that it shouldn’t overshadow the story of the game itself. I’m also on the fence on Zack being alive during these events now. If there isn’t a reason for it, it won’t make sense for him to be there other than for fan service. I suppose we have yet to see that reason.
How do u think cloud even lived ???? If it wasn’t for zack cloud would be dead and if u pay attention to the story septh kept them alive bc he’s trying to take the life stream and zack and arithe who were dead were defending the life stream he’s there for a reason
@@Justin-td2er advent children states this and. No I’m not going to calm down I’m tired of ppl stating dumb shit and not knowing what there talking about
i liked zack and FF7 crisis core because this game gave me meaning in life back when i was studying for college i had no ambition in life i was only following what my parents want me to become to pleases them , even though it is a game zack quote "embrace your dream if you wanna became a hero you need to have a dream" hit me and gave me purpose in life , because of this i was able choose a job that i really want at first my parents where furious about it but then after time they accept what i choose and decided to support me, now im having fun with my job and living my life to the fullest thats why crisis core had a especial meaning in my lfe
As a level 99 Aeris simp since 1997 and as a guy named Zack, I have always enjoyed Zack as a character even before the new games. It's nice to know that even non-Zacks found the character somewhat interesting as well.
Zack is my favorite character in video gaming. He stuck to his ideals til death, and followed his dreams. He believed in his comrades to a fault. He did everything he could to get back to Aerith. The end of Remake made me cry, I'll admit it. And if he is surviving, I can only hope to get an extension to his story. Embrace your dreams, and whatever happens protect your honor.... as SOLDIER
I remember playing Final Fantasy VII when it was still new - how the Cloud in the Nibelheim Incident story was so different than the Cloud I got to know in Midgar. I had attributed it to Cloud maturing over time. But this stark difference in personality makes much more sense when you realize he was emulating Zack. There’s no denying that Zack has a powerful effect on Cloud. Cloud joined SOLDIER wanting to be more like Sephiroth. But I think once he met Zack, Zack became Cloud's true idol. In fact, in the entirety of the Final Fantasy VII compilation, the only time Cloud ever seems to enjoy himself is around Zack. Cloud is gloomy in the later parts and after FFVII because he is purposefully trying to distance himself from his psychosis. He doesn't want to "steal" the personality of his idol and friend, but he never really knew himself when Zack wasn’t there. I always hear about how Cloud is a moody and brooding protagonist. And to some extent that is true. But I think people are too quick to forget that these are not Cloud’s defining traits - they are the result of a person experiencing great trauma and who lacks identity, direction, and resolution. This is why we only ever see Cloud smile at the very end - during Advent Children, when he’s finally found healing and direction. Cloud’s real defining trait is (ironically) resolve. He will see through his objectives to the end no matter what it takes. This is a trait that both Zack and Cloud share, but is also the one trait Cloud can claim as his own as he embodied it even before he met Zack - back in Nibelheim when he saved Tifa when they were children, and again when he resolved to join SOLDIER. And this is why it’s so hard for Cloud to piece together his own identity outside of Zack. There is so little of himself that that he likes which wasn’t influenced by Zack. It takes until the events in Advent Children before Cloud finally accepts himself as is rather than trying to be someone else, whether by emulation or avoidance.
I absolutely adore Zack. He became my favorite ff character after CC. I just love his bright personality so much. He is like the Sun who can light up the entire room when he’s present.
They hype behind sephoroth. Caused me to watch advent child, which led me to play crisis core, and i haven't looked back since. No matter what game I play and how much, I enjoy it im constantly looking forward to more Zack games. Hands down my favorite character over the franchise
I liked Zack as a minor character. It give him a more heroic mystic. But I also like the idea of the remake been diffrent and we not getting the same game twice so I am open to him getting a bigger role.
I'm looking forward to how they build him and utilize him. Even dumb characters in the compilation were much better represented in remake and so here's hoping it's very good in Rebirth
I’m tickled to get more Zack. By nature, he will never overshadow Cloud or his story. That’s not his role. His place is the heroic support, the friendly hand. And that seems to be what the developers have in mind.
That's what makes cloud uninteresting to me, that he always needs to be the focus, why does he need to overshadow Tifa, or Barret or Zack. It's as much their journey as it is his. Writing where they make the world solely revolve around the protagonist alone are boring.
@@madelinemcmillan4020 because the story is about cloud and sephiroth. Sephiroth, who is the main antagonist, targets cloud specifically and uses those around cloud to fuck with him. You make a character who overshadows cloud and that dynamic is broken.
I'd really like to see how they could expand on Zack. REMAKE proved that he lives, and REBIRTH could very easily expand on both Cloud's and Aerith's backstory, and hopefully, he appears as a playable character, if not in REBIRTH, then at least in Part 3
Zack became popular because he's literally THE Gigachad of Final Fantasy franchise. Handsome, Strong, Honorable, Loyal, Heroic. He's literally peak male performance in every way.
I had no idea who the heck Zack was when I sat down to watch Advent Children with my brother, and by the time we'd finished the movie, he was all kinds of fired up about that fact, haha! So I ended up spending much of the rest of that summer watching him play through Crisis Core and yammering on and on about how great Zack was, and so on and so forth. For that single summer's worth of nice memories I'll always be interested to hear more about Mr. Fair!
I definitely believe this gives Cloud an opportunity to decide what would have helped his life suck less. It would be to have Zack be beside him, which in turn caused him to deal with his seizure like flashbacks on his own...
Yeah, Zack certainly would have helped Cloud, but I question if this would have been a good thing. I sort of feel like Zack would have been too protective, which in turn would have made Cloud lash out and not be able to grow as a person the way he did.
@@rosesweetcharlotte he had a tough life. Spending an ultimate game on someones painful and unsuccessful strugaling makes hime a bit like kicking a dead horse. Bless his heart...
I absolutely love Zack. He has been my favorite character for years. His rise in popularity only makes me love him more. Guess its time for that Zack tattoo!
I'll always remember sitting in my friends room back in high school getting to the ending on the psp and swearing I wasn't gonna cry. Not only did I cry, but I launched the disk out the window, came to my senses, and got it back. Then I played it again, thinking I'd never see zack again for the rest of my life. Seeing him at the ending of remake, was the most emotional I'd felt at the ending of a game since then, and I cried again. No shame
Love how they've expanded on my boy Zack. I love how we feel so passionately about Zack cuz someone else might feel this passionate about Kain from final fantasy 4. We all have our favorites but I think that's what brings us together I love this community.
Zack Fair was my first introduction to mainline Final Fantasy. I had a PSP when I was young, and I loved Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions. Eventually I got my hands on Crisis Core. First fictional character I cried over
I was always kind of drawn to Zack and wanted to know more of his story since FF7 first came out but once I played Crises Core he became my favourite FF character. Can't wait for more Zack content whether they're just trying to ride the popularity or not! The better it does, the more chance we get more!
I definitely love light hearted protagonists in Final Fantasy. My very first favourite was Zidane and when I played Crisis Core, Zack quickly became a favourite too. They're so loveable and adorable. When at point in their story they experience heartbreaking moments (Zidane finding out his origin and entering a mental breakdown and depression, Zack needing to kill his mentor and best friend and dying in the end), it's such a contrast to their initial happy-go-lucky personality. I can't sync well with cool and distant characters like Cloud, Squall, Noctis. At one point in my life I liked Lightning cuz of her badassery but as I grew older the more I came to not like that trope. No judgement to those who like the trope.
Crisis Core has a special place in my heart. It was my entry point into the Final Fantasy games. I still remember shedding a tear at the end of the story. My Dad also saw the I was playing final fantasy then told me how he would play the original FF7 when I was a baby. I then played FF7 and have been obsessed with the story ever since. “The price of freedom is steep”
I'm really ok with Zack as a background character to build history. It fits the story of shinra experiments where Zack died and Cloud somehow survived. The "profits above anything else" is how Zack got resurrected and they got in bed with Disney. It's the old soap opera nonsense of "last season was all just a comma dream of a character you haven't seen yet".
I don't mind that Zack got his own game and his own following, but seeing him being resurrected/un-killed and given a new purpose in what is said to be FF VII hurts me. Whatever people think about Zack, FF VII itself was never his story. He is important, but his last stand was the most defining moment. OG, AC and CC respected that. I am so tired of seeing the remake Zack that lived get the same status as the one that died in OG+compilation. This man is not the same as the one that died. This new Zack was simply doing his best and survived, the one that died gave his very life away for someone else. A person's worth is made by what they experience. Remake took Zacks defining moment away by robbing him and players of his last stand, even if he did die and now "live" in some magical purgatory or personal hell, even if his survival has a payoff later. The remake Zack is not The Zack and even Zack fans should recognize this. Then again, the party in FF VII remake seems to be time Variants... Easy to cash in on characters fame when you do what ifs and time travel stories, comics have proven that.
@@vincentgraymore see, I don't think Zack is that amazing of a character in crisis core. I actually think Remake could make me like him more and am looking forward to how they utilize him. They made Weiss cool for Intergrade which seemed impossible before haha
@@vincentgraymore until they make you feel that pain again when he dies for a second sacrifice Think of the remake rebirth re_? Trilogy as a different universe Everything that happened in the originals happened and this set of games is just next door universe so they feel like it’s all happened before
As someone who’s only played the original PS1 version, I barely even remember the guy. Wild how popular he got after SE decided to shove FF7 down our throats all these years later.
That's where I come from on this too. In fact, it wasn't until my 3rd FF7 playthrough that I found the extra bit where you could actually see the memory of Cloud and Zack escaping and I realized he was even shown in the game. I've never played any other FF7 games so it's strange to see him so popular.
I think what partially made Zack such a rising Character. Was because of the original 7 plot. When seven first came out no one really knew much about Zack other than what Cloud and Tifa talk about and Cloud's Memory affected by Geo-Stigma. Once Crisis Core Came out on the PSP which sadly I know many didn't get to experience. The story expanded and broadened around Before Crisis. The Loveless Series and After Crisis. Zack will always be my Favorite being the first to be passed the Buster Sword by Angeal. Zack had more emotion and really wanted to save those suffering by Shinra's hand. "Boy oh Boy the price of freedom is steep."
Totally. The fact that they revealed that Cloud was remembering Zack's memory and that he was the true First Soldier, removed shine from Cloud and gave it to Zack. Then people became curious about his storyline.
@Aaron9 what the hell you're taking about Shawn? It removed the spotlight from the Cloud to Zack in the flashbacks. Cloud was Never a First Class Soldier. Zack was. Cloud gave Sephiroth the materia. Cloud stood like a bystander while Aerith got impaled by Sephiroth. Cloud had to cowardly sneak into Don's mansion by dressing like a hooker when in the end it was Tifa who came to his rescue... Compared to other heroes, Cloud is very overrated.
@@jamescorey3516 while that can be true. I think a lot of Clouds dullness comes from the Jenova Cells. I mean when he was a Kid he had so much more energy and enthusiasm. But after it just warped his life and he suffered from trying to remember his past. I mean that whole part where he is stuck in a wheelchair is pretty brutal. Also that doesn't take away his skill as a fighter. He's still one of the strongest Protagonist in Final Fantasy despite his lack of emotion. I've been a Fan boy of Cloud forever Mostly because he was the first Character I grew up with an could relate too in a way. But Zack is way Cooler 😂
Zack Fair is just the best! He's like the big brother to Cloud. He is the one who made Aerith happy and he is hands down a great and cool guy! And the most important of all... He was a good man since we had first seen him. I loved crisis core on my psp. I like that he got more background to his journey. As I like it for all kind of characters of FF's world to be treated this way.
It's not complicated. Zack is to Cloud who Samwise was to Frodo. "You've left out one of the chief characters - Samwise the Brave. I want to hear more about Sam. Frodo wouldn't have got far without Sam." Cloud saved the world but his friends got him there, and Zack sacrificed everything just for a friend. "Boy oh boy. The price of freedom sure is steep."
Mostly agree. Creative business unit 3 is the only part of the company left that even feels like it's close to the original sakaguchi spirit. Sakaguchi himself even approves of their work and plays Final Fantasy XIV daily.
Thank you for all the final fantasy content. Especially the FF7 content 🙏🏽 this game is one of few things that genuinely makes me happy and escape this world. So it really means a lot to me and I’m sure for many other FF fans
But in this case it was very well played and people want more of it, so as long as they kept the quality, while also giving us something new (with XVI) what can you really complain about it?
You have to give a hand to the marketing genius at SquareEnix for Zack’s increased media representation. They wanted to squeeze the money out of us and yes they did. Frankly, the only time I saw Zack outside of the original FF7 is from Advent Children, Kingdom Hearts BBS, and Crisis Core, but boy oh boy his role in Crisis Core sold me as the real hero of FF7. Sure, the true hero is Cloud but he’s carrying Zack’s legacy. And in Remake when they changed the outcome and made him alive, absolutely thrilled me to what’s to come. I can’t wait to see how this new timeline and current timeline will collide. Like what will happen to Cloud, the Hero, most of all. He’s living in two world where Zack is dead and alive, and with events that has happened and has not. Remake is an awesome game for not throwing away the event of original game but basically giving us a new timeline. I really hope we get something more about Angeal, because he was the mentor of Zack, and Zack carried his traditions.
Zack was also playable in the 1998 fighting-game Ehrgeiz for the Playstation which used 7 FF7 characters - including Sephiroth, Yuffie, Tifa, Vincent, Cloud and Zack.
Another thing worth noting adding to his popularity was his cameo appearance at the Olympus Coliseum in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep! His personality was in full swing there and definitely introduced him to a whole wing of fans coming from the KH side of things!
Yes! 3:20 i just brought this up on your FF7 Easter Egg video. I know it was brought up long ago on another one of your videos. I kind of did like this concept.
Zack is my favorite character of all time no one can or will ever match him if nothing else he is a hero to me and I do look up to him even if I don't always take what he said or did into my own life he is still an inspiration
I really love the changes! Zack being alive and in the same timeline will open so many opportunities. It always broke my heart to play through CC just to see that he got chased by the turks and in the end being killed of by shinra. That brutal betrail. Also when he had to kill his Mentor Angeal. That game was pure tragic....i just hope they will make an mind-blowing new story in the next two parts!! I mean the end of the first part already blew my mind!
Seeing Zack at the end of Remake when I first beat literally had me in tears. I completely lost my damn mind. He has been my favorite Hero, period (not just in FF) since I first played Crisis Core on my PSP so many years ago. (Aerith is also a big favorite of mine and I love that they're a couple) So yes, my singular biggest hope for Rebirth is to see the 2 of them reunited. Nomura and Kitase have said previously that this is an all new game and things would be different, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed (it's not like you can't just play OG FF7 if that bothers the purists) More Zack please
@TroubadorPoet I wanna see a damn love triangle between Aerith and Cissnei, lol. You KNOW Cissnei wants him, and with how sassy the new Aerith is that could get spicy :O 🔥
I am of 2 minds about the whole thing, I love Zack as well, he's my favorite FF protagonist and yes, maybe even favorite hero, although I've never thought about it like that. And there is a part of me that desperately wants to see him and Aerith reunited. However, I also think that a big part of why he's stayed with me was the experience of playing towards his inevitable death, and then experiencing it, and I feel like him surviving would undermine that, so I think I probably shouldn't get what I want here, Zack and Aerith should just be together in death, as much as it hurts.
For me Zack was a mystery in that I wanted to know more about him in the original game. Then getting crisis core Zack was done so well. I lovehis Japanese voice actor and its cool him and Aeiths Japanese voice actor are married. Love their chemistry which was a highlight of gundam seed destiny
Great video! Interesting to think that if Zack lived, none of this ever happens. Or, Zack ends up being the protector of Cloud from an emerging Sephiroth/Jenova threat with Aerith being around to translate. I agree that without Zack dying, the stakes and emotions are diminished, but him being alive also drastically changes everyone’s role in Remake. It works either way IMO. Kill Zack, and everyone has something internal to fight for. Keep him alive and chaos follows.
Yeah, I wonder how Cloud would have developed with Zack there? I think Zack probably would have been a tad bit too protective around Cloud, which would have driven Cloud to do something stupid
Zack and Angeal became my favorite FF7 characters when Crisis Core came out, though Remake Cloud gives them a run for their money, lol. I love the adorakable ones 😅
I didn't think anything of him after playing FFVII, and I was even confused by who he was in Advent Children at the time. I got a PSP in around 2013/2014, and then heard Crisis Core was good and got that - oh boy did he become my favorite! To me, he had the coolness of Cloud, but instead of being some broody, edgy-sounding teen, he was positive, I liked being around him, and he was skilled! He was so likable and his end was super well done, that when I saw him again at the end of remake I all but lost it!
Just as Cloud wouldn't be who he is without Zack, the same could be said in return. Zack wouldn't matter without Cloud and remake Cloud has set the bar pretty high imo
Zack was like mew was for early Pokémon. You heard rumors about him on the playground and when he popped up on that square fighting game at the arcade, kids went ape shit. He was always popular, color swaps on the main guy just worked back then, since Ken/Ryu, Subzero/Scorpion, Mario/Luigi etc
Zack is not just a happy go lucky shounen protagonist. There is much more there. And I personally find him more compelling than Cloud. This apparently happy go lucky guy fights all his battles solo. Loner Cloud meanwhile has his party with him at all times. You would think it would be the opposite. Cloud can rely on his friends till the end physicallynin battle and mentally for support. Meanwhile friends didn't help Zack during his last stand. The DMW starts shattering and all of Zack's bonds start disappearing, they didnt matter. Even Aerith isnt enough in the end to save him. Someone's always there for Cloud but no one was for Zack. Not even Cloud.He is a very lonely character despite all appearances and its especially true after he has to kill Angeal. He hurts, deeply, and changes because of it. But he keeps on going. And he wants to be a hero yet fails again and again until the end. He doesn't manage to save Angeal, Sephiroth, Lazard. He can't stop Nibelheim massacre and then gets experimented on for 4 years. Only at the very end does he prevent Genesis from falling and then saves Cloud cementing his true hero status. After escaping Nibelheim, he only wants to return to Aerith but he does not abandon Cloud. It would've been easier if he was alone, no doubt. But thats not who Zack is. He drags a comatose Cloud across two continents over almost a year. Protecting, feeding, cleaning and talking to him. Think about that. The entirety of the main party's journey in Rebirth. Zack does that in reverse with no one else for company but Cloud in that kind of condition, hiding from Shinra all the while. Only the thought of Aerith keeping him going. And he dies saving Cloud within sight of his objective. He gives up everything for Cloud, staying true to his ideals of honor and what Soldier should stand for. You can see it in the CG in the last stand. His eyes are red and glistening before he charges in. He knows he's not going to make it back to Aerith and he wont be able to keep his promise to her, but he goes out like a true champion and warrior while staying true to everything he stands for. I simply cannot look past Zack when it comes to FF7. I do not look too kindly upon Cloud appropriating his memories even if its not his fault. And I expect remembering Zack to be an appropriately shattering experience for Cloud in game 3.
It always bugged me in the original, that you couldnt go back and tell Zack's parents that you knew him. I'm still playing Rebirth, and just wish there was more Zack "the puppy". Zack had the skills to be among the elite in Soldier First class. and not gonna lie, I would love to see some more Angeal or Genesis, and no one was mentioning that Genesis body was removed by Shinra at the end of the Remake. But I also still find it silly that Zack beat the 1000 shinra on one of the side missions, but died at the end. I think the biggest draw to Zack is that he more of a traditional hero and pretty much pure good.
Very clever of them to focus on Zack so much. Cloud is loved, Sephiroth is loved, Tifa is loved, but from what I've seen, Zack is revered. I'm no exception; I know he's made of pixels, but I'd still take a bullet for him. :)
Everything they said about changing loading screens and such so it doesn't feel like a ported psp game, makes me feel like they're implementing FF7R's Midgar into Crisis Core Reunion
Ever since i beated crisis core almost 10 years ago,Zack has been my favorite character of all times,i introduced myself in the ff brand in a more proper way with Crisis Core and hell even if the game has its flaws on the gameplay part,the story was so magical to me,im so glad i started FF7 story with crisis core cuz i didnt know anything about the game asides from meeting cloud on KH and Dissidia,and Zack is such a damn good character,the thing that makes him such a lovable character for me is that he is constantly painted as a non-perfect character,he is optimistic but lack attention to important things some times,he is strong and have combat experience but even then he have problems trying to remain focus or he just get overconfident,the game shows us a descent number of times where zack is saved by luck or by a friend (such as Angeal and Sephiroth in Tamblin forth) im so glad he gained the deserved popularity that he has nowadays,and that we will be able to see him shine in a new game with better gameplay mechanics and brand new models im so eager to reach over 500+ hours in Reunion 💀
Zachs popularity makes so much sense when you add the supplementary games because while yes it was a money focused idea within square it also gave so much story to 7 which put Zach at the center of it all. Spoiler warning.... Zachs story also has some of the most tragic events in FF history. Having to kill his mentor/best friend while trying to show him he isn't a monster and failing to do so Then killing his mentors "childhood friend" as well. Also having his friends he made along the way push him away after he was labeled a traitor All of this happening as he acts as the only true hero in the story ending in him giving his life knowing he won't be able to return to his love to save someone he saw promise in just because it's what the hero would do. At that point it doesnt matter if his story was never meant to be that fleshed out because it was such a powerful story that added so much to the history of FF7 that without FF7 seems like a empty shell in comparison. I mean some country bumpkin with a big sword and a false identity joining some eco terrorists and fighting some alien God child made in a test tube feels lack luster in comparison to the current fully fleshed out story that Zach provided
this is a joke, right? FF7 was a phenomenal story before the milking of the Zack Cow began years after release. no one is writing theses about Crisis Core. the original has depth. Zack's story is a Lifetime TV movie distilled to bare heartstrings to illicit any kind of response.
@@Shishkebarbarian The original ff7 was lack luster in comparison to crisis core and its really shown when they had to make multiple branching games to actually show the story thar leads up to ff7. Crisis Core shows the history of the buster sword, the history of cloud and Sephiroth, ariths history with soldier and the turks, etc. It literally provides so much lore for ff7 that without it you would be left with a good game that has tons of lore gaps in its story.
@@xandt-doggaming3313 you're clowning yourself if you think the spinoff games came out because of some inherent need to explain the story. They were made because FF7 is the most popular and highest regarded FF and anything related to it is a license to print money. I pity anyone who's takeaway from the original plot was a desire to find out the history of the buster sword (lol) or felt that the existing lore didn't adequately explain Cloud's history. It's pathetic this is what the general consuming public has devolved into.
@@Shishkebarbarian The clown is the person that thinks they took away from ff7 plot when they really flesh the plot out. Crisis Core explains the origin of the buster sword, the origin of clouds connection to sephiroth, sephiroths origins, Zack story, Aeriths love for Zack, and some of Tifa and clouds history as well. Dierge of cerberus is literally Vincent's story and also gives history to Red XIII as well. The "remakes" are changing the plot to be more of a early FF theme of timelines and timeloops
@@Shishkebarbarian then factor in that Zack was originally created because the original idea for ff7 while it was in development made cloud even more bland then he was and made the game have a different plot id say the added story is definitely a part of FF7's fame
Everyone knows that Tidus is the same character persona as Zack, confirmed by the devs. So Zack will go on a similar route Tidus does. He'll somehow be with the party for a moment but he's really from a different dimension or in the lifestream or Farplane, whatever. So Zack kills Lifestream Jenova in the Lifestream. He becomes one of Knights of the Round and shows up to fight alongside Cloud against Sephiroth in the final battle. The we can have Zack fade away into the lifestream, just as Tidus does in FFX. We can even have Zack grab Areith's hand just as Tidus gave his Dad a high five.
Dammit, this would be beautiful! And it would be good for Cloud's story. One of the more interesting parts of FFX is how quickly but naturally and easily it transitions to being Yuna's story with Tidus as a side character
There's a lot more SOLDIER interplay and comradery in crisis core. Zack has a heroic father figure in Angeal, and the process of him growing up, becoming a 1st and seeing his other heroes like previously accomplished 1sts (aka Genesis and Sephiroth) falter and go a little insane - forces him to grow as a character and keep having to choose responsibility. He's loyal to a fault even to Shinra for awhile, but he does it in the right way, in that he focuses on the people that make it good (Cissnei, Tseng even, and various other military). In the end his desire to try and save Genesis shows him as a very different character to Cloud. Zack's ego is relatively harmless, he grows out of it quickly and he's more carefree. When Cloud gets all serious about being ex-SOLDIER it comes from a place of inadequacy which actually makes him more of a threat, more destructive, and have more potential to be manipulated or corrupted. Couple that with the JENOVA cells he gets after being experimented on and he can literally sabotage everything by handing over the black materia. If it weren't for the experiences and spirit of Zack, which helps tie Cloud to his new friends, it could've gone much worse than it did. He was essentially turned into a SOLDIER via the treatment / experimentation without ever having to be properly trained in the way that Zack was. All he has is what he picked up from Zack while conscious and subconsciously hanging around him via osmosis.
I think the purpose of Zack is to save Aerith, in the rebirth trailer we see Marlene saying to Zack that a man is going to kill Aerith, so MAYBE, maybe Zack will shield and save Aerith from Sephiroth sword??? And maybe this is Sephiroth plan so that Aerith cant save the earth from the meteorite
I love Zack. He's probably my favorite FFVII character, but bringing him back in the remake was a mistake. You can't just undo one of the most defining moments of both Zack and Cloud's character arcs. It just makes it feel cheap and frankly now it just feels like fanservice for the sake of it. It doesn't make sense. Sometimes the best part about loving a character is learning when to let them go.
actually, the remake feels like a completely different game, it has a similar story but in a very different manner, so if they bring zack into the remake, that is the story that they are trying to tell us, and i can only tell you that i really can't wait to see what they will give us next, i loved ff7, ff7 crisis core, even ff7 advent children haha ^__^ and i also really liked ff7 remake, but i didn't start playing it as a remastered game but as a totally different one and i think that was the right approach, and this crisis core reunion, i don't know why, but i loved it even more than the psp game
@@usaberi Yikes...now there's a hot take 👀 Literally the only good thing about the remaster is the gameplay tweaks. Everything else is vastly inferior to the original.
When I first played Crisis Core I was a kid so I didn't really like the idea of not getting to play as Cloud. After playing Crisis Core, Zack took the top spot as my favorite FF7 Character and maybe even my favorite of all time, at least in terms of how I felt about him. I was still a kid and could not fully understand all that was happening in FF7 so that may have played a part. However, after playing 7 again, Reunion, and replaying Remake, my adult self can confidently say he really is my favorite character.
Zack was the reason I fell in love with the FFVII universe to begin with. Without this character I wouldn't probably enjoy this series as much. That being said, Im worried about how they are now reviving him in the remake. Long time fans such as myself are probably hyped to see more of Zack, but new fans probably won't resonate as much with the character without his ultimate sacrifice.
I love Zack and super happy to see him get more screen time. As long as he doesn't become more important than Cloud. Cloud is still the hero of the FFVII universe and it needs to remain that way.
I disagree, Cloud was never the hero, he was the normal guy who took up Zacks mantle, I think this is their story, not Clouds, and I think that they can lift each others stories up rather than overshadowing each other.
@@DutchDread Bro Zack is literally the mentor figure to the hero Cloud. And Cloud being just a normal dude, not a chosen one, is what makes him such a great hero when he learns to overcome his weaknesses.
I'm glad he's getting shine but I'm also irked by the manipulation and marketing they're pulling to give him shine. Also narratively alot of what FF7R is doing just leaves me kinda cold but I'll still watch.
As manipulative as it is, I do appreciate that they have managed to leave Zack, well, Zack. They could have easily made him darker or more broody or something. Yet he remains Zack Fair. It's interesting because he doesn't strike you as the type of character to be this popular. Square Enix has been very, very careful with him
@@rosesweetcharlotte He certainly is more consistent to people compared to Aerith and Cloud. Compilation Aerith felt a tad off and while I liked Compilation Advent Children Cloud a lot of other people didn't.
@@HolyHadou I think they made her way too innocent and they made Cloud way too broody. Aerith in the Remake is a bit closer to how she was characterized in the OG, while Cloud in the Remake is, like, actually played up as being seriously mentally ill.
@@rosesweetcharlotte I concur with Aerith. Cloud I'm kinda murky on since I kinda liked the prospect of him struggling with depression and survivor's guilt but I'm probably reading too much into that. And I do enjoy the depiction of Cloud in Remake there are certain parts where they play up his mental illness to the point that I can't believe they haven't been caught (specific incident in the Shinra building) or no one can pick up on the fact that Cloud clearly has more issues than a comic book.
@@HolyHadouHow the other characters react to Cloud's mental illness is probably one of my favorite things. Look at Tifa and how she wants him to be close to her while at the same time not really seeming to be stoked at the prospect of him going on Avalanche missions. By the time Cloud is struggling with full on seizures and hallucinations, it's really too late for the cast to do anything but let him come along. They can't just leave him at Aerith's house or the Shinra facility. I guess it will be interesting to see how they work around this in the sequel. In the OG, Barret and Red had no idea how unwell Cloud was when he gave his story about Zack. Now they do understand a bit that Cloud is just not well, while Tifa is suspicious and Aerith is, well, essentially playing her own game here.
I love crisis core. It is my entrance to final fantasy (I was born in 2000 and grew up on Nintendo, didn’t go to PlayStation/xbox until the 2008-2010 era. I got a psp with crisis core bought alongside it. This game was my childhood, and it was also very amazing to me. Zack is a character I relate to and very much look up to (I mean, it’s obvious, I’m a Zach too) When reunion came out, I played it for a few days but life got too busy and it doesn’t seem like it aged too well on ps5 other than graphics. however, I discovered the switch port recently, and I’ve been reliving my handheld childhood with 25 hours sunk into it the past two days. It’s crazy to me that I was a kid when I started playing this, looking up to Zack and in a way imprinting my onto him and copying his personality in some ways (I get called a puppy/ golden retriever a LOT), and also longing for a relationship like Zack had with aerith. With Zack back, years and years later, I have grown into someone around his age, and I have found my aerith that I’m getting married to next month. In a way, crisis core changed my life and made me see that you can still be positive even when life gets hard. Zack’s character had brought me through a lot. I am so glad he’s back, and I am very happy with the remake not being a simple remake, but a continuation of the story. The original game was perfect, so I can see why they wanted to continue rather than try to strike lightning in a bottle again by remastering the original. I love where the VII compilation is, and I am so so happy to play rebirth 3 weeks before my wedding :). So sorry for the long message, just wanted to express my love for this character.
I think that is cool actually. Taking the time with the stories. I get to see it from this vid on where Sephiroth fits in connection to Aerith. In which it didn't fit. So that is cool to see. Good insight for me if I ever did an anime. As sometimes stories change along the way to make it all fit and become perfect.
Here's my wild prediction. FF7 Remake 2 focuses on cloud, aerith, main party. Travelling through a slightly altered Gaia. We get occasional flashes to this new Zach timeline to keep up with him. THEN. In between Remake part 2 and 3 we get a CRISIS CORE SEQUEL. Following Zach's adventures through this new world where he survived the end of crisis core.
We consumers ended up feeding and creating this beast of a situation in which now there is just a flood of FF products. But we ended up with a really good game in Crisis Core so I think in the end things turned out well loo
These rankings, my best boy! I binged CC-FFVII- hard back on a borrowed PSP-1001, incurring what feels like lifelong wrist pains. Like, damn, if that doesn't say something (aside from impaired executive functions).
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
I think I can see why Zack became so popular, Cloud fought for his friends and saved the planet, but somehow Zack always felt even more heroic, at least for me, maybe because his whole deal was to become a hero and in the end made the ultimate sacrifice, not necessarily a complex character, but a compelling one, so I'm glad we're seeing more of him in Rebirth
Everything that Zack is, Cloud is not. It’s not until near the end of FF7 that we see Cloud really honor the legacy that Zack left him. Not to imitate him any longer but carry on his dreams.
well def can see why. Cloud is everything zach isnt. Cloud was a antisocial, quiet, anxious yet compassionate child. Perhaps growing up without someone to really push him out of his fears, being despised by the town, growing up in poverty, no father figure (that's actually quite interesting), and his desire to be close to a specific girl (tifa)convinced cloud that to be really admired and taken seriously he had to become a Soldier. He even says that Sephiroth was his hero. Like many young boys he wanted a man to imitate. ITs to get respect and get glory in battle against ppl the state deems as enemies, not necessarily to be a agent of positive change. Zach on the other hand perhaps wanted to be a hero. we can infer that based on his personality. He isn't cold or antisocial; he's warm and inviting to anyone he likes. He volunteers to help others even when it will give him grief. Cloud, when he losses his memory, acts how HE thinks zach was-a rational, somewhat selfish, serious soldier-which you can see was more what cloud wanted to be and what he envisioned zach's life was. Remember, the two didn't know each other for a long time-and to cloud, having a guy like zach be his friend was like meeting your hero for the first time.
@@bradhorowitz2765 yeah, you're right, especially how Cloud's memories merged with Zack's memories messed up his mind, but also pushed him to be more of a hero, just like Cloud wanted to be as a child
I mean, Zack carried a sick, unconscious boy around the planet with him. He cared for Cloud, kept him safe and in as good of health as he could. He sacrificed everything for Cloud. In many ways, it's all very simple, but we rarely see anyone in fiction just put in the work for someone the way Zack does for Cloud.
Zack is a selfless protag who doesnt have the advantage in most situations. Cloud was cocky, sometimes boasting about what he can do in a way before his brain breaks. The two are complete opposites of each other but i think thats what makes them a great duo. Plus zack gave his all to save his friend and keep his promise to his girlfriend, doing everything he can for others. Such a great character
"Boy oh boy, the price of freedom is steep." this dialogue alone made Zack as my favorite character till now, let alone his final conversation with Cloud.
Zack is hands down my favorite FF character. As of recent I replayed Crisis Core and man it hits a lot different than it did as a kid, and because of all the lore for FF 7 series that has released since then. Seeing the banter between Zack, Sephiroth, and Angeal is tear jerking to say the least. Such a bright positive character goes through so much tragedy and has so much put on his shoulders but he never sways or wavers. Zack very much so protected his honor as SOLDIER and I cannot WAIT for CC remake this winter and the development timeline in 7 Remake Part 2....
Director Lazard playfully joking with "Good, unattainable dreams are the best of kind." was a brief moment but the words got stuck to me
For me, I think one of the things that really spark the love for Zack IS what we learned about him from Cloud's pov.
Zack wanted to be here.
Zack was a hero.
Zack wanted to be there and help.
Zack did those things.
Zack, aside from being Cloud's best, if not only, true friend, was also his hero. Seeing how significant an impact Zack had on Cloud's life shows through with how well he tries to be idea of "I'm living for Zack. But Im also me. Im...?" And that struggle back and forth of being true to himself, but trying to be Zack and live for his friend and hero.
It's interesting that they so specifically wanted to portray Zack in such a positive light, usually this leads to characters who are bland and uninteresting, but Zack manages to be great and his "nice guy" persona adds to that
It's because his nice guy persona is something that is constantly tested by things that happen against his will, and you can really see that it's that spirit that keeps him going.
It always brings me back to the seen in Nibelheim where The world is falling down around Zack but he still tries to be positive for Cloud. Crisis Core made him amazing.
I think it works, because Zack as your typical "nice guy protagonist" in contrasted by the absolute crazy asses with Sephiroth, Genesis and Angeal to some extent. He's a normal man in extraordinary circumstances and thats cool
@@PaniPancakes It's so easy to make someone dark and broody, but Zack managed to be himself throughout.
Zach being a nice guy is challenged by having one if the mist tragic stories in FF history. A story that would normally destroy a person's ability to continue being a true hero and following his dreams to the very end. Yet through those challenges he prevailed where nobody should prevail
I really like how Zack's character has a completely different personality than Cloud. Zack is more lively and has a "playboy-esque" characterization as opposed to Cloud's gloomy and serious personality. You also grow up with Zack when experiencing his story, as when the game starts he's just a teenager ready to take on the world, and by the end he matures into a man capable of taking on the world. It's sort of a breath of fresh air, as most final fantasies I've personally played tend to provide us with serious characters and protagonists such as Squall, Cloud, Noctis, Lightning, etc. (which isn't a bad thing! Their character progression shows throughout their adventures with their party members and friends) that characters such as Vaan, Zidane, Tidus, Zack, etc. really embrace a more goofy and light hearted side to final fantasies that really make you enjoy playing the protagonist more, in my opinion at least. When playing Crisis Core, I loved Zack and Cloud's little brother to big brother dynamic and hopefully more people can grow to love Zack's character when his new game comes out!
A majority of those brooding edgelords are Nomura's creation, that manchild couldn't write a good character if his life depended on it.
@@carbxncle Well, it depends how they're written, they can be like that if they're written well but yeaaah generally they aren't.
Zack definitely can be key to the story in Remake all things considered if it's written well.
After crisis core, it kinda ruined cloud for me... IDK how are you supposed to "take his life" basically, and yet get everything but the sword wrong :P.. my opinion prolly off quite as bit on my thought process
WELL EXCUSE CLOUD FOR GETTING STABBED BY THE WORLD'S STRONGEST SOLDIER IN HISTORY AND WAKING UP YEARS LATER TO FIND OUT HE GOT SCIENCE RAPED BY HOJO AND HUNTED LIKE A FUGITIVE BY SHINRA WITH NO EXPLANATION. YOU MAKE IT SEEM LIKE YOU'D GO THROUGH THAT WITH NO TROUBLE AT ALL 😒
Zack is my favorite character in any FF game since I played Crisis Core. He’s this too good for his own sake guy that has a tragic ending, keeping to his ideals throughout no matter how hard the world spits on him for it. Seeing him come out alive at the end of FF7: Remake was one of the best experiences in a videogame I had in years, so much so it brought tears to my eyes. I’m of the opinion FF7: Remake is a masterpiece on the way it was presented and executed. So yes, more Zack Fair please.
So if you appreciate Zack Fair then he must not be a part of the ff7 remake. He died so that cloud could be the hero the world needed.
Yea Zack needs to die, I'm sorry. It just takes away so e of clouds story and trauma if he lives.
@@willlauzon3744 I think dude is just grateful for Zack to appear on Ff7:R. We might get our answers on the next part of FF7:R on how is Zack alive and why does Aerith seem to have an idea how things are going to happen.
@@randominternetperson5806 I honestly don't care. It wasn't a remake and I hate retcons. I really really hate retcons. What was wrong with the original story?
@@willlauzon3744 well I guess we have different views on it, I wasn't bothered with the change in story cause I don't see it as a retcon.
Growing up with Crisis Core being my first FF game, I remember loving it to bits. I think the character of Zack and his ideals definitely left an impact on me till this day.
Same with me CC was first FF game I play and because of Zack I love everything of final fantasy 7
Me as well with CC being my first FF game. Zack was my personal hero as a kid and it tore me apart to see him at the end of CC. I'm looking forward to seeing his role in the next game!
CC was... I think my fourth or fifth? And still I love the hell out of it. But I love it for the same reason some people love those heartbreaking love movies like The Notebook. Sometimes you just need a good, cathartic cry. That ending shatters my heart every time.
"Embrace your dreams and protect your honor as SOLDIER!"
@@blacksatoshi6486 "When the war of the beast brings about the world's end, The Goddess descends from the sky, Wings of light and dark spread afar she guides us to bliss her gift everlasting."
I think reason why we love Zack so much is because of how Crisis Core immerses you in the past of FF7. Nothing makes you get drawn into a story when you character build properly. You get to be an ally of Sephiroth and be there for the downfall. And the ending was more heartbreaking for me than Aerith dying in 7. I knew what was coming yet i still was sad at the end.
Seeing sephiroth in a positive light blew my mind playing the remake an watching him fall killed me cause it was the lies that did it man coulda stayed a hero
I remember playing FF7 as a kid and was curious about Zack after Aerith and Tifa have such big reactions to meeting his parents. It made him seem important and definitely wasted hours hoping to find him somewhere like Vincent and Yuffie. When CRISIS CORE released I didn't put it down for months. It was amazing playing and replaying a game that finally gave attention to a character I had always been curious about and he was such a good character!!! I easily fell in love with Zack Fair and his dreams of being a hero. Then the way he is connected to Cloud makes him all the more interesting for people who fell in love with the reluctant hero of the original game. We find out that Cloud is alive because of Zack's care and that he was a hero to the end.
I replay CRISIS CORE at least twice a year since release and I'm proud to say that Zack is easily my favorite Final Fantasy character. I love so many of them, but he will always hold a special place in my heart.
I mean, Zack didn't just save Cloud. He really cared for him and protected him in a scenario where many people would have dumped Cloud as quickly as they could.
Patiently awaiting the day I enter a boss fight with both cloud and Zack in the same party.
Same. Fingers crossed it'll happen. I'd adore a team up. Sure, some fans may be annoyed but after tearing up at crisis core reunion multiple times, all I can say is "so what? Happy ending please, our boy deserves it dammit" XD
YES. YESSS
KEPT YOU WAITING HUH?
YOUR WISH HAS BEEN FUCKING GRANTED!!!!!!
This comment aged well!
Oh, to be a fly on the wall, when you got to the end of Rebirth. Hope you enjoyed that as much as I did, stranger! I was grinning like a madwoman the whole time.
I do think that Zacks story should be expressed more in the remake but I think that it shouldn’t overshadow the story of the game itself. I’m also on the fence on Zack being alive during these events now. If there isn’t a reason for it, it won’t make sense for him to be there other than for fan service. I suppose we have yet to see that reason.
How do u think cloud even lived ???? If it wasn’t for zack cloud would be dead and if u pay attention to the story septh kept them alive bc he’s trying to take the life stream and zack and arithe who were dead were defending the life stream he’s there for a reason
They are basically attempting to erase the original timeline of events. This is really nothing more than a “what if” story.
@@meghannhotmire3379 that is in no way obvious in the game, and what does Cloud have to do with this comment? Calm down man
@@Justin-td2er advent children states this and. No I’m not going to calm down I’m tired of ppl stating dumb shit and not knowing what there talking about
@@meghannhotmire3379 lmao Jesus. You're way too worked up about a damn game. And you're wrong, as well. It's insane. Go take a nap or eat something
i liked zack and FF7 crisis core because this game gave me meaning in life back when i was studying for college i had no ambition in life i was only following what my parents want me to become to pleases them , even though it is a game zack quote "embrace your dream if you wanna became a hero you need to have a dream" hit me and gave me purpose in life , because of this i was able choose a job that i really want at first my parents where furious about it but then after time they accept what i choose and decided to support me, now im having fun with my job and living my life to the fullest thats why crisis core had a especial meaning in my lfe
thanks for sharing your story! Zack also influenced me so much and it’s happy to know that I’m not the only one.
As a level 99 Aeris simp since 1997 and as a guy named Zack, I have always enjoyed Zack as a character even before the new games. It's nice to know that even non-Zacks found the character somewhat interesting as well.
Says a RUclips account named "Jessica" with a woman as the pic.
@@WildKat25 Oh, that's just a meme about a TYT clown.
Zack is my favorite character in video gaming. He stuck to his ideals til death, and followed his dreams. He believed in his comrades to a fault. He did everything he could to get back to Aerith. The end of Remake made me cry, I'll admit it. And if he is surviving, I can only hope to get an extension to his story. Embrace your dreams, and whatever happens protect your honor.... as SOLDIER
This was a MUCH deeper dive outside of Zack and covered a bunch of things I didn’t realize I wanted to know, excellent work
This "Price of Freedom" cover is incredible!
I remember playing Final Fantasy VII when it was still new - how the Cloud in the Nibelheim Incident story was so different than the Cloud I got to know in Midgar. I had attributed it to Cloud maturing over time. But this stark difference in personality makes much more sense when you realize he was emulating Zack. There’s no denying that Zack has a powerful effect on Cloud. Cloud joined SOLDIER wanting to be more like Sephiroth. But I think once he met Zack, Zack became Cloud's true idol. In fact, in the entirety of the Final Fantasy VII compilation, the only time Cloud ever seems to enjoy himself is around Zack. Cloud is gloomy in the later parts and after FFVII because he is purposefully trying to distance himself from his psychosis. He doesn't want to "steal" the personality of his idol and friend, but he never really knew himself when Zack wasn’t there.
I always hear about how Cloud is a moody and brooding protagonist. And to some extent that is true. But I think people are too quick to forget that these are not Cloud’s defining traits - they are the result of a person experiencing great trauma and who lacks identity, direction, and resolution. This is why we only ever see Cloud smile at the very end - during Advent Children, when he’s finally found healing and direction.
Cloud’s real defining trait is (ironically) resolve. He will see through his objectives to the end no matter what it takes. This is a trait that both Zack and Cloud share, but is also the one trait Cloud can claim as his own as he embodied it even before he met Zack - back in Nibelheim when he saved Tifa when they were children, and again when he resolved to join SOLDIER. And this is why it’s so hard for Cloud to piece together his own identity outside of Zack. There is so little of himself that that he likes which wasn’t influenced by Zack. It takes until the events in Advent Children before Cloud finally accepts himself as is rather than trying to be someone else, whether by emulation or avoidance.
this is a great take
I absolutely adore Zack. He became my favorite ff character after CC. I just love his bright personality so much. He is like the Sun who can light up the entire room when he’s present.
They hype behind sephoroth. Caused me to watch advent child, which led me to play crisis core, and i haven't looked back since.
No matter what game I play and how much, I enjoy it im constantly looking forward to more Zack games.
Hands down my favorite character over the franchise
I liked Zack as a minor character. It give him a more heroic mystic. But I also like the idea of the remake been diffrent and we not getting the same game twice so I am open to him getting a bigger role.
I'm looking forward to how they build him and utilize him. Even dumb characters in the compilation were much better represented in remake and so here's hoping it's very good in Rebirth
I guess I just want a story that builds off of what we have. I guess I do want a sequel or something.
I’m tickled to get more Zack. By nature, he will never overshadow Cloud or his story. That’s not his role. His place is the heroic support, the friendly hand. And that seems to be what the developers have in mind.
He's gonna be one of the Knights of the Round. Perfect hero support?
That's what makes cloud uninteresting to me, that he always needs to be the focus, why does he need to overshadow Tifa, or Barret or Zack. It's as much their journey as it is his. Writing where they make the world solely revolve around the protagonist alone are boring.
@@madelinemcmillan4020 because the story is about cloud and sephiroth. Sephiroth, who is the main antagonist, targets cloud specifically and uses those around cloud to fuck with him. You make a character who overshadows cloud and that dynamic is broken.
I'd really like to see how they could expand on Zack. REMAKE proved that he lives, and REBIRTH could very easily expand on both Cloud's and Aerith's backstory, and hopefully, he appears as a playable character, if not in REBIRTH, then at least in Part 3
Zack became popular because he's literally THE Gigachad of Final Fantasy franchise. Handsome, Strong, Honorable, Loyal, Heroic. He's literally peak male performance in every way.
I had no idea who the heck Zack was when I sat down to watch Advent Children with my brother, and by the time we'd finished the movie, he was all kinds of fired up about that fact, haha! So I ended up spending much of the rest of that summer watching him play through Crisis Core and yammering on and on about how great Zack was, and so on and so forth. For that single summer's worth of nice memories I'll always be interested to hear more about Mr. Fair!
I definitely believe this gives Cloud an opportunity to decide what would have helped his life suck less. It would be to have Zack be beside him, which in turn caused him to deal with his seizure like flashbacks on his own...
Yeah, Zack certainly would have helped Cloud, but I question if this would have been a good thing. I sort of feel like Zack would have been too protective, which in turn would have made Cloud lash out and not be able to grow as a person the way he did.
@@rosesweetcharlotte he had a tough life. Spending an ultimate game on someones painful and unsuccessful strugaling makes hime a bit like kicking a dead horse.
Bless his heart...
I absolutely love Zack. He has been my favorite character for years. His rise in popularity only makes me love him more. Guess its time for that Zack tattoo!
Easily the best Final Fantasy channel.
Zack is one of my favorite game characters ever made and I'm so happy to see him live in rebirth
I'll always remember sitting in my friends room back in high school getting to the ending on the psp and swearing I wasn't gonna cry. Not only did I cry, but I launched the disk out the window, came to my senses, and got it back. Then I played it again, thinking I'd never see zack again for the rest of my life. Seeing him at the ending of remake, was the most emotional I'd felt at the ending of a game since then, and I cried again. No shame
Love how they've expanded on my boy Zack. I love how we feel so passionately about Zack cuz someone else might feel this passionate about Kain from final fantasy 4. We all have our favorites but I think that's what brings us together I love this community.
Even in smaller instances of Final Fantasy like Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia, Zack is still one of the most liked characters.
Zack Fair was my first introduction to mainline Final Fantasy. I had a PSP when I was young, and I loved Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions. Eventually I got my hands on Crisis Core. First fictional character I cried over
I've played through the fan made crisis core upscale project and it's absolutely incredible
I was always kind of drawn to Zack and wanted to know more of his story since FF7 first came out but once I played Crises Core he became my favourite FF character. Can't wait for more Zack content whether they're just trying to ride the popularity or not! The better it does, the more chance we get more!
I definitely love light hearted protagonists in Final Fantasy. My very first favourite was Zidane and when I played Crisis Core, Zack quickly became a favourite too. They're so loveable and adorable. When at point in their story they experience heartbreaking moments (Zidane finding out his origin and entering a mental breakdown and depression, Zack needing to kill his mentor and best friend and dying in the end), it's such a contrast to their initial happy-go-lucky personality. I can't sync well with cool and distant characters like Cloud, Squall, Noctis. At one point in my life I liked Lightning cuz of her badassery but as I grew older the more I came to not like that trope. No judgement to those who like the trope.
Crisis Core has a special place in my heart. It was my entry point into the Final Fantasy games. I still remember shedding a tear at the end of the story. My Dad also saw the I was playing final fantasy then told me how he would play the original FF7 when I was a baby. I then played FF7 and have been obsessed with the story ever since.
“The price of freedom is steep”
Zack's wish to becoming a hero came true, he saved Final Fantasy VII for being another good FF game
I'm really ok with Zack as a background character to build history. It fits the story of shinra experiments where Zack died and Cloud somehow survived. The "profits above anything else" is how Zack got resurrected and they got in bed with Disney. It's the old soap opera nonsense of "last season was all just a comma dream of a character you haven't seen yet".
I don't mind that Zack got his own game and his own following, but seeing him being resurrected/un-killed and given a new purpose in what is said to be FF VII hurts me. Whatever people think about Zack, FF VII itself was never his story. He is important, but his last stand was the most defining moment. OG, AC and CC respected that. I am so tired of seeing the remake Zack that lived get the same status as the one that died in OG+compilation. This man is not the same as the one that died. This new Zack was simply doing his best and survived, the one that died gave his very life away for someone else. A person's worth is made by what they experience. Remake took Zacks defining moment away by robbing him and players of his last stand, even if he did die and now "live" in some magical purgatory or personal hell, even if his survival has a payoff later. The remake Zack is not The Zack and even Zack fans should recognize this.
Then again, the party in FF VII remake seems to be time Variants... Easy to cash in on characters fame when you do what ifs and time travel stories, comics have proven that.
@@vincentgraymore see, I don't think Zack is that amazing of a character in crisis core. I actually think Remake could make me like him more and am looking forward to how they utilize him. They made Weiss cool for Intergrade which seemed impossible before haha
@@vincentgraymore until they make you feel that pain again when he dies for a second sacrifice
Think of the remake rebirth re_? Trilogy as a different universe
Everything that happened in the originals happened and this set of games is just next door universe so they feel like it’s all happened before
@@vincentgraymore Yea the Remake changed all the character dynamics drastically.
Dude I really need more of Angeal, Genesis, And Sephiroth together
As someone who’s only played the original PS1 version, I barely even remember the guy. Wild how popular he got after SE decided to shove FF7 down our throats all these years later.
That's where I come from on this too. In fact, it wasn't until my 3rd FF7 playthrough that I found the extra bit where you could actually see the memory of Cloud and Zack escaping and I realized he was even shown in the game. I've never played any other FF7 games so it's strange to see him so popular.
@@mattlloyd6651 Crisis Core. The game that ruined FF7.
@@eothain1632 Yeah that's why there is so many fans of cc and zack including myself.
I think what partially made Zack such a rising Character. Was because of the original 7 plot. When seven first came out no one really knew much about Zack other than what Cloud and Tifa talk about and Cloud's Memory affected by Geo-Stigma. Once Crisis Core Came out on the PSP which sadly I know many didn't get to experience. The story expanded and broadened around Before Crisis. The Loveless Series and After Crisis. Zack will always be my Favorite being the first to be passed the Buster Sword by Angeal. Zack had more emotion and really wanted to save those suffering by Shinra's hand. "Boy oh Boy the price of freedom is steep."
Totally. The fact that they revealed that Cloud was remembering Zack's memory and that he was the true First Soldier, removed shine from Cloud and gave it to Zack.
Then people became curious about his storyline.
@Aaron9 Really 😂
@@jamescorey3516 Bro what the fuck are you talking about T.T
@Aaron9 what the hell you're taking about Shawn?
It removed the spotlight from the Cloud to Zack in the flashbacks.
Cloud was Never a First Class Soldier. Zack was.
Cloud gave Sephiroth the materia.
Cloud stood like a bystander while Aerith got impaled by Sephiroth.
Cloud had to cowardly sneak into Don's mansion by dressing like a hooker when in the end it was Tifa who came to his rescue...
Compared to other heroes, Cloud is very overrated.
@@jamescorey3516 while that can be true. I think a lot of Clouds dullness comes from the Jenova Cells. I mean when he was a Kid he had so much more energy and enthusiasm. But after it just warped his life and he suffered from trying to remember his past. I mean that whole part where he is stuck in a wheelchair is pretty brutal. Also that doesn't take away his skill as a fighter. He's still one of the strongest Protagonist in Final Fantasy despite his lack of emotion. I've been a Fan boy of Cloud forever Mostly because he was the first Character I grew up with an could relate too in a way. But Zack is way Cooler 😂
Zack Fair is just the best! He's like the big brother to Cloud. He is the one who made Aerith happy and he is hands down a great and cool guy! And the most important of all... He was a good man since we had first seen him. I loved crisis core on my psp. I like that he got more background to his journey. As I like it for all kind of characters of FF's world to be treated this way.
It's not complicated.
Zack is to Cloud who Samwise was to Frodo.
"You've left out one of the chief characters - Samwise the Brave. I want to hear more about Sam. Frodo wouldn't have got far without Sam."
Cloud saved the world but his friends got him there, and Zack sacrificed everything just for a friend.
"Boy oh boy. The price of freedom sure is steep."
Square died when sakaguchi left. Heart and soul of the company replaced by a corporate stooge.
Mostly agree. Creative business unit 3 is the only part of the company left that even feels like it's close to the original sakaguchi spirit. Sakaguchi himself even approves of their work and plays Final Fantasy XIV daily.
Parts of business unit 2 aswell. At least the Nier team. I grew out of KH.
The tragic king 😔
"Me? Gongaga"
I blame Zack Fair for my exercise routine. If he never existed, I wouldn’t have been doing 100 squats every day. (Thanks to him, I got me a GYATT)
Zack Fair is my all time favorite video game character. Can't wait to see what happens!
Thank you for all the final fantasy content. Especially the FF7 content 🙏🏽 this game is one of few things that genuinely makes me happy and escape this world. So it really means a lot to me and I’m sure for many other FF fans
Wow!!! This was so much more informative and in-depth than I was expecting when I clicked on this video. Subscribed!!
It would be even more interesting if Square made choices that didn't revolve around profits.
But in this case it was very well played and people want more of it, so as long as they kept the quality, while also giving us something new (with XVI) what can you really complain about it?
HEY YOU LISTENED TO ME I JUST COMMENTED ON THE PREVIOUS VIDEO YESTERDAY AND HERE YOU ARE AND POSTED THIS! THANKS FINAL FANTASY UNION
You have to give a hand to the marketing genius at SquareEnix for Zack’s increased media representation. They wanted to squeeze the money out of us and yes they did. Frankly, the only time I saw Zack outside of the original FF7 is from Advent Children, Kingdom Hearts BBS, and Crisis Core, but boy oh boy his role in Crisis Core sold me as the real hero of FF7. Sure, the true hero is Cloud but he’s carrying Zack’s legacy. And in Remake when they changed the outcome and made him alive, absolutely thrilled me to what’s to come. I can’t wait to see how this new timeline and current timeline will collide. Like what will happen to Cloud, the Hero, most of all. He’s living in two world where Zack is dead and alive, and with events that has happened and has not. Remake is an awesome game for not throwing away the event of original game but basically giving us a new timeline. I really hope we get something more about Angeal, because he was the mentor of Zack, and Zack carried his traditions.
Zack was also playable in the 1998 fighting-game Ehrgeiz for the Playstation which used 7 FF7 characters - including Sephiroth, Yuffie, Tifa, Vincent, Cloud and Zack.
Another thing worth noting adding to his popularity was his cameo appearance at the Olympus Coliseum in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep! His personality was in full swing there and definitely introduced him to a whole wing of fans coming from the KH side of things!
Yes! 3:20 i just brought this up on your FF7 Easter Egg video. I know it was brought up long ago on another one of your videos. I kind of did like this concept.
Zack is my favorite character of all time no one can or will ever match him if nothing else he is a hero to me and I do look up to him even if I don't always take what he said or did into my own life he is still an inspiration
Thanks!
You're most welcome Landon, and thanks for the Super Thanks!
I really love the changes! Zack being alive and in the same timeline will open so many opportunities. It always broke my heart to play through CC just to see that he got chased by the turks and in the end being killed of by shinra. That brutal betrail. Also when he had to kill his Mentor Angeal. That game was pure tragic....i just hope they will make an mind-blowing new story in the next two parts!! I mean the end of the first part already blew my mind!
Seeing Zack at the end of Remake when I first beat literally had me in tears. I completely lost my damn mind.
He has been my favorite Hero, period (not just in FF) since I first played Crisis Core on my PSP so many years ago. (Aerith is also a big favorite of mine and I love that they're a couple)
So yes, my singular biggest hope for Rebirth is to see the 2 of them reunited. Nomura and Kitase have said previously that this is an all new game and things would be different, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed (it's not like you can't just play OG FF7 if that bothers the purists)
More Zack please
@TroubadorPoet I wanna see a damn love triangle between Aerith and Cissnei, lol. You KNOW Cissnei wants him, and with how sassy the new Aerith is that could get spicy :O 🔥
I can play OG on my phone. In fact I'm playing it right now. I don't want the same story in remake. I want a new story
I'm all for the change in remake and I am excited to see an expanded role for Zack.
I am of 2 minds about the whole thing, I love Zack as well, he's my favorite FF protagonist and yes, maybe even favorite hero, although I've never thought about it like that. And there is a part of me that desperately wants to see him and Aerith reunited.
However, I also think that a big part of why he's stayed with me was the experience of playing towards his inevitable death, and then experiencing it, and I feel like him surviving would undermine that, so I think I probably shouldn't get what I want here, Zack and Aerith should just be together in death, as much as it hurts.
For me Zack was a mystery in that I wanted to know more about him in the original game. Then getting crisis core Zack was done so well. I lovehis Japanese voice actor and its cool him and Aeiths Japanese voice actor are married. Love their chemistry which was a highlight of gundam seed destiny
I think CCFF7 has the best graphic arts on psp and still amazed how it looks on it these days
Great video! Interesting to think that if Zack lived, none of this ever happens. Or, Zack ends up being the protector of Cloud from an emerging Sephiroth/Jenova threat with Aerith being around to translate. I agree that without Zack dying, the stakes and emotions are diminished, but him being alive also drastically changes everyone’s role in Remake. It works either way IMO. Kill Zack, and everyone has something internal to fight for. Keep him alive and chaos follows.
Yeah, I wonder how Cloud would have developed with Zack there? I think Zack probably would have been a tad bit too protective around Cloud, which would have driven Cloud to do something stupid
Zack and Angeal became my favorite FF7 characters when Crisis Core came out, though Remake Cloud gives them a run for their money, lol. I love the adorakable ones 😅
I didn't think anything of him after playing FFVII, and I was even confused by who he was in Advent Children at the time. I got a PSP in around 2013/2014, and then heard Crisis Core was good and got that - oh boy did he become my favorite! To me, he had the coolness of Cloud, but instead of being some broody, edgy-sounding teen, he was positive, I liked being around him, and he was skilled! He was so likable and his end was super well done, that when I saw him again at the end of remake I all but lost it!
Just beat Crisis Core for the first time. Zack has some of the best character growth in the entire FF series.
Zack is definitely one of the deepest and most emotionally intelligent characters. Hopefully part 3 of the Remake does him justice.
Just as Cloud wouldn't be who he is without Zack, the same could be said in return. Zack wouldn't matter without Cloud and remake Cloud has set the bar pretty high imo
ZACK'S BACK! YEAH! This time...Things will go differently.
Zack was like mew was for early Pokémon. You heard rumors about him on the playground and when he popped up on that square fighting game at the arcade, kids went ape shit. He was always popular, color swaps on the main guy just worked back then, since Ken/Ryu, Subzero/Scorpion, Mario/Luigi etc
Zack is not just a happy go lucky shounen protagonist. There is much more there. And I personally find him more compelling than Cloud.
This apparently happy go lucky guy fights all his battles solo. Loner Cloud meanwhile has his party with him at all times. You would think it would be the opposite. Cloud can rely on his friends till the end physicallynin battle and mentally for support. Meanwhile friends didn't help Zack during his last stand. The DMW starts shattering and all of Zack's bonds start disappearing, they didnt matter. Even Aerith isnt enough in the end to save him. Someone's always there for Cloud but no one was for Zack. Not even Cloud.He is a very lonely character despite all appearances and its especially true after he has to kill Angeal. He hurts, deeply, and changes because of it. But he keeps on going.
And he wants to be a hero yet fails again and again until the end. He doesn't manage to save Angeal, Sephiroth, Lazard. He can't stop Nibelheim massacre and then gets experimented on for 4 years. Only at the very end does he prevent Genesis from falling and then saves Cloud cementing his true hero status.
After escaping Nibelheim, he only wants to return to Aerith but he does not abandon Cloud. It would've been easier if he was alone, no doubt. But thats not who Zack is. He drags a comatose Cloud across two continents over almost a year. Protecting, feeding, cleaning and talking to him. Think about that. The entirety of the main party's journey in Rebirth. Zack does that in reverse with no one else for company but Cloud in that kind of condition, hiding from Shinra all the while. Only the thought of Aerith keeping him going.
And he dies saving Cloud within sight of his objective. He gives up everything for Cloud, staying true to his ideals of honor and what Soldier should stand for. You can see it in the CG in the last stand. His eyes are red and glistening before he charges in. He knows he's not going to make it back to Aerith and he wont be able to keep his promise to her, but he goes out like a true champion and warrior while staying true to everything he stands for.
I simply cannot look past Zack when it comes to FF7. I do not look too kindly upon Cloud appropriating his memories even if its not his fault. And I expect remembering Zack to be an appropriately shattering experience for Cloud in game 3.
Wish I could’ve played crisis core on my psp when I had one, but I’m glad they remade it for the consoles
Zack is my favorite Final Fantasy character and my overall 3rd favorite fictional character
for anyone that didnt know, the legend akira toriyama did the art for chrono trigger
It always bugged me in the original, that you couldnt go back and tell Zack's parents that you knew him. I'm still playing Rebirth, and just wish there was more Zack "the puppy". Zack had the skills to be among the elite in Soldier First class. and not gonna lie, I would love to see some more Angeal or Genesis, and no one was mentioning that Genesis body was removed by Shinra at the end of the Remake. But I also still find it silly that Zack beat the 1000 shinra on one of the side missions, but died at the end. I think the biggest draw to Zack is that he more of a traditional hero and pretty much pure good.
Very clever of them to focus on Zack so much. Cloud is loved, Sephiroth is loved, Tifa is loved, but from what I've seen, Zack is revered. I'm no exception; I know he's made of pixels, but I'd still take a bullet for him. :)
Zack is the one we fans love.
Zack Fair is to Square what Vegeta was to Toriyama.
Everything they said about changing loading screens and such so it doesn't feel like a ported psp game, makes me feel like they're implementing FF7R's Midgar into Crisis Core Reunion
Ever since i beated crisis core almost 10 years ago,Zack has been my favorite character of all times,i introduced myself in the ff brand in a more proper way with Crisis Core and hell even if the game has its flaws on the gameplay part,the story was so magical to me,im so glad i started FF7 story with crisis core cuz i didnt know anything about the game asides from meeting cloud on KH and Dissidia,and Zack is such a damn good character,the thing that makes him such a lovable character for me is that he is constantly painted as a non-perfect character,he is optimistic but lack attention to important things some times,he is strong and have combat experience but even then he have problems trying to remain focus or he just get overconfident,the game shows us a descent number of times where zack is saved by luck or by a friend (such as Angeal and Sephiroth in Tamblin forth) im so glad he gained the deserved popularity that he has nowadays,and that we will be able to see him shine in a new game with better gameplay mechanics and brand new models im so eager to reach over 500+ hours in Reunion 💀
Sakaguchi is such a legend
Zachs popularity makes so much sense when you add the supplementary games because while yes it was a money focused idea within square it also gave so much story to 7 which put Zach at the center of it all.
Spoiler warning....
Zachs story also has some of the most tragic events in FF history. Having to kill his mentor/best friend while trying to show him he isn't a monster and failing to do so
Then killing his mentors "childhood friend" as well.
Also having his friends he made along the way push him away after he was labeled a traitor
All of this happening as he acts as the only true hero in the story ending in him giving his life knowing he won't be able to return to his love to save someone he saw promise in just because it's what the hero would do.
At that point it doesnt matter if his story was never meant to be that fleshed out because it was such a powerful story that added so much to the history of FF7 that without FF7 seems like a empty shell in comparison. I mean some country bumpkin with a big sword and a false identity joining some eco terrorists and fighting some alien God child made in a test tube feels lack luster in comparison to the current fully fleshed out story that Zach provided
this is a joke, right? FF7 was a phenomenal story before the milking of the Zack Cow began years after release. no one is writing theses about Crisis Core. the original has depth. Zack's story is a Lifetime TV movie distilled to bare heartstrings to illicit any kind of response.
@@Shishkebarbarian The original ff7 was lack luster in comparison to crisis core and its really shown when they had to make multiple branching games to actually show the story thar leads up to ff7. Crisis Core shows the history of the buster sword, the history of cloud and Sephiroth, ariths history with soldier and the turks, etc. It literally provides so much lore for ff7 that without it you would be left with a good game that has tons of lore gaps in its story.
@@xandt-doggaming3313 you're clowning yourself if you think the spinoff games came out because of some inherent need to explain the story. They were made because FF7 is the most popular and highest regarded FF and anything related to it is a license to print money. I pity anyone who's takeaway from the original plot was a desire to find out the history of the buster sword (lol) or felt that the existing lore didn't adequately explain Cloud's history. It's pathetic this is what the general consuming public has devolved into.
@@Shishkebarbarian The clown is the person that thinks they took away from ff7 plot when they really flesh the plot out. Crisis Core explains the origin of the buster sword, the origin of clouds connection to sephiroth, sephiroths origins, Zack story, Aeriths love for Zack, and some of Tifa and clouds history as well. Dierge of cerberus is literally Vincent's story and also gives history to Red XIII as well.
The "remakes" are changing the plot to be more of a early FF theme of timelines and timeloops
@@Shishkebarbarian then factor in that Zack was originally created because the original idea for ff7 while it was in development made cloud even more bland then he was and made the game have a different plot id say the added story is definitely a part of FF7's fame
Everyone knows that Tidus is the same character persona as Zack, confirmed by the devs.
So Zack will go on a similar route Tidus does. He'll somehow be with the party for a moment but he's really from a different dimension or in the lifestream or Farplane, whatever. So Zack kills Lifestream Jenova in the Lifestream. He becomes one of Knights of the Round and shows up to fight alongside Cloud against Sephiroth in the final battle.
The we can have Zack fade away into the lifestream, just as Tidus does in FFX. We can even have Zack grab Areith's hand just as Tidus gave his Dad a high five.
Dammit, this would be beautiful!
And it would be good for Cloud's story. One of the more interesting parts of FFX is how quickly but naturally and easily it transitions to being Yuna's story with Tidus as a side character
There's a lot more SOLDIER interplay and comradery in crisis core. Zack has a heroic father figure in Angeal, and the process of him growing up, becoming a 1st and seeing his other heroes like previously accomplished 1sts (aka Genesis and Sephiroth) falter and go a little insane - forces him to grow as a character and keep having to choose responsibility. He's loyal to a fault even to Shinra for awhile, but he does it in the right way, in that he focuses on the people that make it good (Cissnei, Tseng even, and various other military). In the end his desire to try and save Genesis shows him as a very different character to Cloud.
Zack's ego is relatively harmless, he grows out of it quickly and he's more carefree. When Cloud gets all serious about being ex-SOLDIER it comes from a place of inadequacy which actually makes him more of a threat, more destructive, and have more potential to be manipulated or corrupted. Couple that with the JENOVA cells he gets after being experimented on and he can literally sabotage everything by handing over the black materia. If it weren't for the experiences and spirit of Zack, which helps tie Cloud to his new friends, it could've gone much worse than it did. He was essentially turned into a SOLDIER via the treatment / experimentation without ever having to be properly trained in the way that Zack was. All he has is what he picked up from Zack while conscious and subconsciously hanging around him via osmosis.
I think the purpose of Zack is to save Aerith, in the rebirth trailer we see Marlene saying to Zack that a man is going to kill Aerith, so MAYBE, maybe Zack will shield and save Aerith from Sephiroth sword???
And maybe this is Sephiroth plan so that Aerith cant save the earth from the meteorite
I love Zack. He's probably my favorite FFVII character, but bringing him back in the remake was a mistake.
You can't just undo one of the most defining moments of both Zack and Cloud's character arcs. It just makes it feel cheap and frankly now it just feels like fanservice for the sake of it. It doesn't make sense.
Sometimes the best part about loving a character is learning when to let them go.
actually, the remake feels like a completely different game, it has a similar story but in a very different manner, so if they bring zack into the remake, that is the story that they are trying to tell us, and i can only tell you that i really can't wait to see what they will give us next, i loved ff7, ff7 crisis core, even ff7 advent children haha ^__^ and i also really liked ff7 remake, but i didn't start playing it as a remastered game but as a totally different one and i think that was the right approach, and this crisis core reunion, i don't know why, but i loved it even more than the psp game
@@usaberi Yikes...now there's a hot take 👀
Literally the only good thing about the remaster is the gameplay tweaks. Everything else is vastly inferior to the original.
When I first played Crisis Core I was a kid so I didn't really like the idea of not getting to play as Cloud. After playing Crisis Core, Zack took the top spot as my favorite FF7 Character and maybe even my favorite of all time, at least in terms of how I felt about him. I was still a kid and could not fully understand all that was happening in FF7 so that may have played a part. However, after playing 7 again, Reunion, and replaying Remake, my adult self can confidently say he really is my favorite character.
Zack was the reason I fell in love with the FFVII universe to begin with. Without this character I wouldn't probably enjoy this series as much. That being said, Im worried about how they are now reviving him in the remake. Long time fans such as myself are probably hyped to see more of Zack, but new fans probably won't resonate as much with the character without his ultimate sacrifice.
They didn't change the story of crisis core remake, you can breath easy
@@liambanner3003 Zack being alive in the end is a big change.
@@roughpatmusic he isn't aline at the end of crisis core reunion.
@@AlcyonEldara then what’s this talk about an alternate timeline? And cutscenes I’ve been seeing where he’s alive after the final fight?
@@roughpatmusic The scenes are from FFVII remake.
I love Zack and super happy to see him get more screen time. As long as he doesn't become more important than Cloud. Cloud is still the hero of the FFVII universe and it needs to remain that way.
I disagree, Cloud was never the hero, he was the normal guy who took up Zacks mantle, I think this is their story, not Clouds, and I think that they can lift each others stories up rather than overshadowing each other.
@@DutchDread No, Cloud is the hero. He saved the fucking day. Zack is a loser who needed a 16 year old kid to take out Sephiroth.
@@DutchDread Bro Zack is literally the mentor figure to the hero Cloud. And Cloud being just a normal dude, not a chosen one, is what makes him such a great hero when he learns to overcome his weaknesses.
I'm glad he's getting shine but I'm also irked by the manipulation and marketing they're pulling to give him shine. Also narratively alot of what FF7R is doing just leaves me kinda cold but I'll still watch.
As manipulative as it is, I do appreciate that they have managed to leave Zack, well, Zack. They could have easily made him darker or more broody or something. Yet he remains Zack Fair. It's interesting because he doesn't strike you as the type of character to be this popular. Square Enix has been very, very careful with him
@@rosesweetcharlotte He certainly is more consistent to people compared to Aerith and Cloud. Compilation Aerith felt a tad off and while I liked Compilation Advent Children Cloud a lot of other people didn't.
@@HolyHadou I think they made her way too innocent and they made Cloud way too broody. Aerith in the Remake is a bit closer to how she was characterized in the OG, while Cloud in the Remake is, like, actually played up as being seriously mentally ill.
@@rosesweetcharlotte I concur with Aerith. Cloud I'm kinda murky on since I kinda liked the prospect of him struggling with depression and survivor's guilt but I'm probably reading too much into that. And I do enjoy the depiction of Cloud in Remake there are certain parts where they play up his mental illness to the point that I can't believe they haven't been caught (specific incident in the Shinra building) or no one can pick up on the fact that Cloud clearly has more issues than a comic book.
@@HolyHadouHow the other characters react to Cloud's mental illness is probably one of my favorite things. Look at Tifa and how she wants him to be close to her while at the same time not really seeming to be stoked at the prospect of him going on Avalanche missions.
By the time Cloud is struggling with full on seizures and hallucinations, it's really too late for the cast to do anything but let him come along. They can't just leave him at Aerith's house or the Shinra facility.
I guess it will be interesting to see how they work around this in the sequel. In the OG, Barret and Red had no idea how unwell Cloud was when he gave his story about Zack. Now they do understand a bit that Cloud is just not well, while Tifa is suspicious and Aerith is, well, essentially playing her own game here.
Square Enix not knowing how popular Zack is never heard of the whole Final Fantasy 7 house drama
Despite the insurmountable odds, Zack Fair stood tall.
I love crisis core. It is my entrance to final fantasy (I was born in 2000 and grew up on Nintendo, didn’t go to PlayStation/xbox until the 2008-2010 era. I got a psp with crisis core bought alongside it. This game was my childhood, and it was also very amazing to me. Zack is a character I relate to and very much look up to (I mean, it’s obvious, I’m a Zach too)
When reunion came out, I played it for a few days but life got too busy and it doesn’t seem like it aged too well on ps5 other than graphics. however, I discovered the switch port recently, and I’ve been reliving my handheld childhood with 25 hours sunk into it the past two days. It’s crazy to me that I was a kid when I started playing this, looking up to Zack and in a way imprinting my onto him and copying his personality in some ways (I get called a puppy/ golden retriever a LOT), and also longing for a relationship like Zack had with aerith. With Zack back, years and years later, I have grown into someone around his age, and I have found my aerith that I’m getting married to next month. In a way, crisis core changed my life and made me see that you can still be positive even when life gets hard. Zack’s character had brought me through a lot.
I am so glad he’s back, and I am very happy with the remake not being a simple remake, but a continuation of the story. The original game was perfect, so I can see why they wanted to continue rather than try to strike lightning in a bottle again by remastering the original. I love where the VII compilation is, and I am so so happy to play rebirth 3 weeks before my wedding :).
So sorry for the long message, just wanted to express my love for this character.
To be fair, you do see him get shot in the face at point blank at the end of the remake... in first person.
I think that is cool actually. Taking the time with the stories. I get to see it from this vid on where Sephiroth fits in connection to Aerith. In which it didn't fit. So that is cool to see. Good insight for me if I ever did an anime. As sometimes stories change along the way to make it all fit and become perfect.
Here's my wild prediction. FF7 Remake 2 focuses on cloud, aerith, main party. Travelling through a slightly altered Gaia. We get occasional flashes to this new Zach timeline to keep up with him. THEN. In between Remake part 2 and 3 we get a CRISIS CORE SEQUEL. Following Zach's adventures through this new world where he survived the end of crisis core.
Dang....
-RUclips banned me for 24 hours so I now must behave-
Rick Gomez is the one voice actor that NEEDED to be brought back
Might need to review what you said at 3:41 as you say shifted from Aerith being Sephiroths brother :P
Oops! :D
I mean, maybe she transitioned, we don't know how ancient biology work :P
squenix's corporate greed produced crisis core, a game that also completely misses the point of the original ffvii. very fitting
How so?
Of all games it was Energez that made me fall in love with Zack. First game that I think he was ever playable in now I think about it.
We consumers ended up feeding and creating this beast of a situation in which now there is just a flood of FF products. But we ended up with a really good game in Crisis Core so I think in the end things turned out well loo
These rankings, my best boy! I binged CC-FFVII- hard back on a borrowed PSP-1001, incurring what feels like lifelong wrist pains. Like, damn, if that doesn't say something (aside from impaired executive functions).