FF7 Rebirth Is The Ultimate LEAP of Faith
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- Опубликовано: 14 июл 2024
- The FF7 Remake trilogy has sent me into wild theory rabbit holes, but the real thing promises to be so much more than I ever imagined.
The latest FF7 Rebirth trailer made me question everything I thought I knew about what they were doing with the story... and got me thinking of some new possibilities that have me more excited than ever, even though the real thing will probably be better than anything I could ever imagine.
CHAPTERS
00:00 - Opening
01:37 - Part 1: Rebirth's Mysteries Are The REAL Ever Crisis
17:11 - Part 2 - New Theories & My Overall Approach
18:33 - The New Nibelheim Flashback
19:29 - The "Mideel" Doctor & Sephiroth's Manipulation
20:11 - Hiding the Magic Trick
22:02 - Clearing Up the Messy Zack scenes
26:50 - What Does "The world will be saved, but will you?" Mean?
30:41 - Sephiroth's New Mindgame
33:44 - My BIGGEST Swing: Part 3's New Lifestream Sequence
37:54 - Final Thoughts
Shout out to @Sing4DLaughter the great Lo-Fi tracks in this video:
JENOVA: Final Fantasy 7 LoFi and Chill Mix [1 Hour]
• JENOVA: Final Fantasy ...
The Price of Freedom: FF7 Crisis Core Reunion LoFi [1H]
• The Price of Freedom: ...
To follow me on social, you can check out my Twitter: / _subtxt_
#FF7Rebirth #FF7Remake #FinalFantasy7Remake #FF7RemakePart2 
Игры
this is probably the only video on rebirth that didn't have me pulling my hair out. no pushing theories, no stubborn opinions and no gas lighting. i enjoyed all 40 minutes of your thoughts! this is the type of people we need in this community.
Thank you so much. Yeah, I have a lot of thoughts on the game but I’m taking some shots in the dark with my best guesses. That’s what makes it fun, even if I’m wrong. I already have some new ideas I’ll try to share before launch that are good food for thought.
@SubTXT_ yeah! which isn't a bad thing! i've just watched soo many videos on people almost forcing theories or backlashing others for their opinions so i really enjoyed watching your video, a breath of fresh air really.
This video is masterfully done. Superbly written and spoken, superbly edited. Great work, man!
Well said
Nice intro. That first trailer is exactly what I was thinking of in our conversation earlier. Not having expectations and embracing what comes with an open mind. I take that message to heart.
Expectations are the reason this project was put off for so long and the reason this project exists in the first place. Everything also has its limits. When GG Allin drops drawer, takes a dump in his hand, throws it at the audience, and then starts feeling up the female audience members in the front row, I'm officially done with the show. I won't embrace everything with an open mind. The same holds true for FFVII as a franchise.
The expectations have been set by the creatives. The plot is in the ballpark of OG FFVII. The game will end at the Forgotten Capital. There is a new mystery at the heart of all this. The marketing is touting these great "glow ups," of OG FFVII scenes like Aerith and Tifa at Cosmo Canyon. If this isn't the case, then I'll be rightfully miffed about it regardless of what the fanbase tries to force feed me saying otherwise.
I listened to the words of that trailer closely. I also closely monitored Cloud and Barret walking through the Midgar slums in that trailer. Celebrating not giving me that in your game is ludicrous. Making this something completely different and unrecognizable because of our brains spilling out of our completely open minds just doesn't work for me.
@@zackkeogh3515 huh? what on earth are you saying
This is an INCREDIBLE video. Great work! And not because there's clips with me in it (although it enhances it for me for sure 😂)
Thanks bro! Can’t wait for us to chat about it in some Seal Team 7 one day.
@@SubTXT_ trust and believe ill be watching that :) . HI NSP is FFVII-R still contrived. ? timelines/ worlds can collide but merge ? it's for squeenix to decide :)
The narcissism is why I cant watch night sky lmao
This is one of the most if not the most important experience in my life. The whole waiting for this project and every single moment i see FF7 content. FF7 is more than a game for me and for many people.This journey is something i will cherish till the end of my days. Such an amazing video man great work!
When I was a kid, me my dad and brother used to all play the original. All looking for new secrets and all just loving the characters and story. Few years ago my dad past away. The next game is called rebirth, and comes out on a leap year, which is also my dad's birthday. This is a rebirth of the experience I got to share with him. So I definitely understand. This experience they are giving us is priceless.
Great video as always! I never really thought about how all of these changes -- while like you said, consequential -- are ultimately distractions to let us relive the mystery again. So stoked to dive in and play!
Another fantastic video as always. You really captures the essence of what I’ve been trying to emphasize to people since remake dropped. The Devs care. They love the game, the fans and the story they created. As we sit in awe and reverence of the tremendous effort and SOUL being placed into this game. I wish the rest of the fandom could feel the same way. I think your video will go a long way towards elucidating that sentiment.
Thanks, I appreciate it and yeah… even when I have my doubts, they always seem to do something that makes me say, “damn, they just get it. They really do.” The latest info drop was that.
My ONLY real nitpick is that I wish Sephiroth in the flashback scenes was more over leveled. There should be that power gap, even if it makes the opening section too easy. But, I mean, whatever 😂
@@SubTXT_ Playing devil's advocate, going off your video it is certainly possible that's because Sephiroth becomes a full playable party member that we can level up with an enhanced xp growth curve for a short period of time. I know it's not true, but sometimes being wrong is right hahaha
The wait for remake, the wait for rebirth, the wait for Re-3X has been, is now and will be... for a while. When all is said and done, when the final game is released, there will be no unknown journey, all remaining hope will be unfulfilled, all theories and guesses will be proven or wrong and frozen in time. The remake trilogy will be static, just like the rest of the past, only those that were there will have had the joy or experience the anticipation, the window in time that gives you all so much joy and me so much dead. After all this, the product has to stand on its own, be judged on its own and forever more be judged by people that never experienced the wait for an FF VII remake that seemingly from nowhere wanted to be "more" than being just a remake.
The great works always stand the test of time, 23 years for FF VII, 45 years as Star Wars, 400 years as Shakespeare, 2000 years of philosophy. Many of them has to compete with their own expanded universe, which will have duds, and some that elevate that material, but the wait for them, the theories for them that were created before releases are rather useless afterward (except for historians I guess). People's feelings during the wait period will be tales that only by proxy will affect those they speak to, while the games still has to carry the actual relevance. What SE has attempted will be a dated experience, a meal at a restaurant opening where people share their experience of the trip there, the atmosphere in the room and the waiter and cook, not that much about the meal itself, but other people will only know if the food is good or not when they visit after opening week celebration. Sure, you find people discussing what was so great with remake, but the discussions always boil down to "what will happen next", a moot experience for the post saga fan.
Maybe FF VII remake saga will be worthy of it legacy from a mass audience appeal. It isn't for me with its changes to the core of the game with fate, time alterations and diametrically opposed narrative devices to the OGs seriousness regarding death, but maybe the new legacy that will alter the old in its wake will be something that new people will look at in 25 years and think is better than how the world looked at FF VII OG, which only after a few years were so dated that many didn't even play it cause of the graphics.
The biggest balls SE can have right now is to simply be the OG, the least common theory. In movie remakes the story can be changed and the movie so much it look almost nothing alike, with so much change and being just a remake the movie has to be judged on its own, parallel to the OG. FF VII remake on the other hand has to be judged both parallel and serial, as a retelling and a sequel at the same time, while they are the opposite of each other and steal points from one another. This means that regardless if you call the remake saga something like a sequel, there will be a "winner" regarding new story content, and the "game term remake" fidelity perspective is lesser overall. That affects its legacy. Imagine the reverse in graphics, voice and music direction, that right now the remakes graphics were turned into the OG and the OG into the remakes. Would people still hold remakes take on it all as high?
This is a really awesome video! The Happy Turtle transition is amazing, LOL!
This was a beautiful video. I feel your passion and heart. From one ff7 fan to another. Thank you for the time you took.
That first part of the video really teared me out. FF7, I believe for all of us who create watch FF7 content, is one the most sacred things and to her the story of the trilogy being told from the beginning with all the reactions of people and your words was too much for me to take 😭😅.
Loved the theories and I’m with you… Whatever they bring us I’m fine, just can’t wait for Rebirth.
Keep doing your amazing job, and thanks for the shoutout, btw.
👊🏻
Best coverage of a video game I've seen on RUclips. I'm happy it's about FF7R. Good work!
Gosh, you talking about your uncle introducing you to VII just brought back a flood of memories of my friend introducing me to the game back in 97. Almost brought me to tears. I was in the same boat, absolutely zero context for what a RPG was, let alone Final Fantasy. I was 14 back then, and it absolutely floored me and changed my entire perspective on what a video game could and should be. Awesome production as always, sir. I'm always stoked to see a video from you in my sub feed.
Yeah, this game just goes so deep. He unfortunately passed away years before Remake was even announced but we used to talk about the DREAM of it coming out for years - actually way back when FFX came out because we thought it’d be cool if FF7 even looked like that let alone the PS3 tech demo.
My older brother, back in 1997, told me "there is a video game where you can go to Las Vegas!" (he was at a friends house and saw gameplay of the Gold Saucer) and since then he and I got hooked and he bought the game for his PS1. And like you, this game blew my mind at the enormous scope that it covered at the time, since my only experience with RPGs were games like Zelda. FF7 literally took over my life as a 7 year old.
Great video, that little opening edit with the vioce over was savage man !!
Excellent work, Sub. Great edits, and solid information. Love the direction (and the humility!) you present here. Love it
Great video man!! I am right with you, HUNGRY for the unknown Journey, but fully confident they care about us fans and the original vision and won't ruin it, in fact I think they will improve it significantly! I think the big reveal of Cloud's truth will hit even harder because it's going to be fully acted out with visceral emotion, think of the most brutal scenes from FF16.... It's going to be raw!
It’s gonna be a blast, but you’re gonna have to set up the craziest filters to block out the spoilers during your long playthroughs haha
Excellent video, especially the editing (the "soliloquy" was very well written!)
Max's befuddled expression during the Weapon scene accurately mirrored my own. If you have too much knowledge of OG, you get fucked with haha.
18:25 - Oooo itsLazBoi! Never have a seen a dude fall so in love with the OG FF7 as quickly as he has. He does a lot of great content elsewhere, but his FF content is no slouch! Glad he joined the chosen few to play the demo.
I think ItsLazBoi is GREAT and his FF7 content doesn't get talked about enough so I definitely needed to include him. His Rebirth hands-on impressions video was FANTASTIC.
Fantastic video, truly enjoyable watch. Liked and subscribed 5 mins in 🎉
Excellent analysis! It feels like yesterday when I was sitting on my living room floor reading Gamepro magazine with a feature on OG that was due to release. After experiencing FFVI and Chrono Trigger, my imagination was running wild as to what Squaresoft had in store for their next endeavor. Thanks to you, Babyseal, Sleepezi and others, all of you have been bringing that feeling back with your great content. Who would've predicted the impact this game would have around the world all these years later? We may have not been connected by social media back then but boy, did we know we were experiencing something special in the making that could be felt throughout the community. Like OG, let us embrace what is to come.
Oh man, I remember the gaming magazine days. I remember I sent an email (or maybe even a physical letter!) to one of the magazines as a kid and it got featured in the Letter to the Editor section. I can’t remember if it was GamePro or EGM, but it was the COOLEST THING EVER to me haha.
And yeah, the fact we can all talk about this game together is pretty magical. Another comment mentioned that in the long run, the Remake trilogy will feel hollow because the love is mostly being driven by the current conversation between games and someone who picks it up in 2040 won’t get that experience.
1) I disagree, though I get their point about future players missing something
2) sucks to be them haha
This is one of the most unique entertainment experiences ever, and in a world where you can binge everything in an instant, it’s nice that we can marinate in this.
Also, I feel like a lot of fans don’t have FF7 friends IRL. My best friends don’t play it, for example. They play other games. And I’ve heard that from a lot of people. Even my uncle who introduced me to FF7 passed away unfortunately, but having this whole community has really plugged that gap of connection.
@@SubTXT_ Haha, I would shocked if I had one of those issues with your letter featured, I kept as many issues of EGM as I could. You're right, at the time, it felt like my brothers and I were the only ones excited about FFVII but amazing to see years later seeing the impact it's made on so many people and now there are so many to connect with. Cheers to your uncle, he sounded like an awesome person. :)
This is a seriously fantastic video. I hope you'll do more.
I think this is your best video! Your editing is amazing and tells your story so clearly
Thank you so much. When the Rebirth trailer first hit, I was so overwhelmed and satisfied that I was thinking, "I don't know if I have anything to say about this. In fact, theorizing kinda feels pointless because the reality is so much cooler." A few days later, that became the core idea behind the first half of the video haha
@@SubTXT_ that’s awesome! Yea we’re all just enjoying the “unknown journey” I like how you used audio from the original announcement trailer too, and you tied it in with key moments even maximillions reaction lol. I’m an editor too and I make content, I just really enjoyed how you layed this out. Keep up the excellent work ! 😁
I’am BEYOND ecstatic that the game came out when it did…..
If we would’ve gotten what we saw on the PS3, I wouldn’t have liked the game anywhere near as much!
Totally. Looking back at the PS3 footage is ROUGH. But beyond visuals, Square has just gotten a LOT better and combat, voice acting, etc so yeah… thank God. I wanted it way back then to and it would’ve been a real disappointment.
@@SubTXT_ Yah, apparently the PS3 version was done by a separate team, and the original story’s team didn’t like how it was going.
That’s why I don’t understand people getting upset that Rebirth is on PS5 only…..
They’re trying to make a more timeless masterpiece. I don’t know what’s wrong with doing that!
This was amazing man!
Very well done.
“beagleverse” best takeaway from this entire thing 😂
embrace your dreams: think of every possibility and lean on your favorite predictions.
protect your honor: appreciate it for what it is regardless of what happens.
Great Vid! cant wait for more!
like how you mixed the 2015 reveal trailer for remake sound over the new rebirth trailer
Well done with this video, mate.
Great video as always. I didn't make the connection of taking a leap of faith = leap year, that's too perfect.
You hit the nail on the head. They want to make the original story beats be even more emotional and impactful. We're playing FFVII for the first time again. Whatever happens, the theorizing is fun, but words can't express how excited and eager I am for Rebirth and then part 3. I have been obsessing just as much these past 3, almost 4 years. Truly I have not endured as painful a wait for any game as this one.
Quality content. Thanks for another great vid
Great video
It's difficult to predict what's going to happen, but I loved Remake and I'm certain I'll love Rebirth even more.
My one lingering, longshot hope is that somehow we changed the timeline enough to run into Jessie at the Gold Saucer. Or maybe Zack will meet her there in whatever timeline he's in. I just want to see Jessie again.
I'm an unabashed Jessie fan also, so I wouldn't say no to seeing her again haha. I do want death to have some meaning in this universe, but if it's only a temporary revival then I'm cool with it.
@@SubTXT_that is the thing though… I love all the attention to details and gush at rebirth’s trailers as much as anyone else. But when it comes to the story, it seems to me the multiple timelines is just a convoluted mess for every characters to get somewhat of an happy ending.
@@monkeygunner67000 I actually very much agree. That was one reason why I was afraid of the changes, as I talk about in this video. As exciting as some of the new mysteries were, I was afraid they were gonna mess the story up. It’s also why I liked the single timeline theory - it was cleaner and more consequential that having separate timelines. For example, if something happens in one timeline but doesn’t in the other, then it’s kinda pointless. That said, it does seem like they’re going to be “merging worlds” as Sephiroth says in the trailer. So I’m hopeful about that.
LOVVVVVED THE INTRO!!!! GREAT EDITING
1997. The GOAT video game. Man I miss it. Great video, my friend.
Great video, kudos on getting some of your predictions correct. The devs might've used the Cloud model with single shoulder-pad because that's what they had access to at the time. Below I thought it said the footage wasn't finalized in tiny font. Maybe that young Cloud model wasn't complete yet but you definitely made me question that scene in the trailer... I didn't catch that.
A commenter that I follow on Twitter named deltasyn actually brought up a good point. The devs last year that the scene of Cloud and Seph walking was from a "familiar scene" (pretty sure that was the quote) and that seemed to confirm at the time that it was the Nibelheim flashback. But delta brought up that Sephiroth does take technically bring modern Cloud through the Nibelheim flashback in OG -- during the Whirlwind Maze scene where Sephiroth reveals the Zack character for the first time. So that teaser scene MAY be the new version of the Whirlwind Maze/Illusion.
That was beautiful man
'The Beagleverse.' I fucking love it
SPOILERS FOR EVANGELION AND FF7 franchise.
If you could humor me and image the ancient aliens guy meme. However, instead of "aliens" being memefied answer at the crux of everything for him, replace it with "consciousness" as the core answer to everything Final Fantasy franchise and very specifically the FF7 sub-franchise.
It's my continued fever dream speculation that Final Fantasy stories attempt to recreate a human consciousness within the videogame medium just like Evangelion attempted to do using anime (hey you mentioned it so that means i get to to without being that guy in the sleepezi chat). I believe similar to Anno, Nomura believes stories ultimately are likened to artificial humans meant to be a reflection of human consciousness (and beyond the scope of this comment, are humanity's true children meant to eventually evolve beyond us).
However, one of the hardest aspects of human consciousness that stories continue to have difficulty recreating is self awareness (this of course being due to the technology required to build a sufficient body/vessel to host such an emergent awareness being out of the current reach of their creators, us). Sure you can breakdown the structure of human consciousness through various bits of lore like many of our mythologies and pop culture products, like Final Fantasy, so entertainingly does. Heck you can even simulate the journey that is the human life cycle through the use of plot and also recreate the interactivity between humans through the interactivity that occurs between the story and the player/observer/agent but that still doesn't capture self awareness that best could without the story havinng a history, a memory.
Along comes Final Fantasy 7 doing its Final Fantasy thing of being a baddass modern myth, an epic drama of being human consciousness, but it did something no other Final Fantasy had done before or dare I say has been schieved again thereafter. It left not just an audience yearning but, much like Evangelion did, it must have left it's creators yearning. Yearning for closure. And that yearning lead to a constant engagement with that memory and I believe a profound opportunity to do something the OG could not fully incorporate as an aspect of human consciousness like the Evangelion series: self awareness. They just simply could not as they were the birth of experience and self awareness requires one to Remember experience.
I think the Remake project was conceived to be a self aware story like the Evangelion Rebuilds and the aspect of human consciousness that is charged with achieving self awareness is the Ego but we know it, we know him, as Sephiroth.
And how does one achieve self awareness? What is Sephiroth doing? Why is Remake the same but different? I think in order to achieve self awareness Sephiroth, the one above all but not beyond all, has to deconstruct their history, their memories, and I think this is why Remake is the same but different. The Remake, like Sephiroth, is FF7 deconstructing its memory, our OG, and this comes with remembering that memory differently, some aspects slightly different but other aspects fully reimagined, like any good fallable human consciousness.
But why self awareness? Why view FF7 or the Final Fantasy franchise or even just stories as ultimately attempting to recreate a human consciousness? Closure. Because the End of it All is also a reality of human consciousness. Because death is inconsiderate human consciousness. And any story attempting to fully capture human consciousness must also incorporate the hollowness that death brings while also attempting to willfully achieve closure. I submit that the endings of FF7 and the Evangelion seires in trying to incorporate the very real hollowness of death and its alienating affect on life they gave use endings deliberately lacking in closure. And so they effectively recreated the hollowness of death and birthed a yearning for closure.
Funny how their initial answer to those yearnings, being the compilation for FF7 and End of Evangelion for the Evangelion series, similarly ended with the idea of a large vessel containing the "history/memories" of human consciousness to float off into the void beyond as a final goodbye and yet failed to satiate the yearning for closure. Honestly it felt like the creators deliberately failed to provide closure given both stories rather deviously gave us final scenes that slapped us with what I'll call The Backhand of Bewildering Ambiguity. End of Eva gave us the infamous beach scene and Dirge gave us the cave scene after scenes that one could reasonably say would have provided much more closure to their stories if not for the additional final final scene. But its almost like the creators knew the vessel floating into the void is cool mythic closure it's not enough to be the closure the story deserved and so closure was decided to be taken away again. And the yearning for closure continued and the fans kept them in the zeitgeist. Kept them at the forefront of commercial art. And due time both modern myths gave us the promise of closure.
I believe the Remake project like the Rebuild of Evangelion attempts to give us not just the closure we wanted, but the closure that creator(s) needed and the closure the story deserves. And one of the best ways to achieve closure is through self awareness so that one can look back on their memories to willfully celebrate the life that was lived and not succumb to the hollowness of death.
Sephiroth will come to understand the prison that is pursuing immortality, of us fearing closure so that we may perpetually yearn for perfection. And after all his epic attempts to exert his will on our memories, that is this Remake project, so that he may truly become god, become the author of the story, in order to avoid death, he will choose to sacrifice his will. Will being all that he is now thus sacrifising himself...for the greater Story, for the Lifestream, for us, for closure. And I hope to be moved by Sephiroth, of all characters to ever be conceived, getting his closure of a life he became aware was never truly his own.
This is fascinating. I'll admit being a bit intimidated by the length of the comment at first, but I think you're onto something. Consciousness is something Nomura definitely seems obsessed with to some extent. As I think you've watched Sleepezi's stuff, he outright said he evolved the concept of FF7 from just "memories" to the idea of "consciousness" in the the behind-the-scenes interview for Advent Children.
As for where you land everything... I've been really resistant to the concept of Sephiroth having some -- for lack of a better phrase -- "redemption arc" ... but the way you propose it here is very interesting. And given how they've portrayed Sephiroth so far in the new Ever Crisis content, it does seem like a bit of a setup for that.
Oof yeah lol a graveyard shift at a mega resort can cause more pleasant thoughts to counter the work spill forth. I'm just glad you pointed out a deeper truth to theorizing on a story as being better viewed as a tool of sharing a part of yourself, a part of you personal consciousness, to an other as opposed to a form of securing self worth in desiring to be right. Consciousness vs power. Lifestream vs Shinra. I dig it. And thank you for humoring me.
Yeah that redemption thing is a tricky one but, contrary to initial fan fears of the worse execution of it, idea of redemption is necessary to the gospel of consciousness that FF7 on whole has told. And I will agree that the worst form of how redemption could be executed haunts me a little too. But there's a hint as to how the creators interpret the idea of redemption that maintains my excited uncertainty for Sephiroth's, capital E, Ending.
Post OG almost feels entirely devoted to redemption but not the evil guy turned good so let's wave away all the trauma they caused. Instead I think FF7 has always attempted to portray all humanity, all life, as beyond the paradigm of evil and good and under one of ignorance and awareness. And redemption within the paradigm of ignorance and awareness is portrayed differently than within a world of evil vs good. Sure evil and good still exist but they are not the source of reality but they themselves are outcomes from varying combinations of ignorance and awareness. So redemption takes on the form of enlightenment of your role and actions within a world not within your control, the form of acceptance. Compilation showed us Cloud needed to accept his role in the deaths of Aerith and Zack, Rufus needed to accept his role in the death of the Planet, Reeve needed to accept his role in the death of his citizens, Cid needed to accept his death of Shera's love, etc.
However the character that I believe needed redemption the most in order for FF7 to really celebrate the message of the Lifestream, the one stripped of humanity before birth, the one designed out ignorant evil instead of conscious love: Sephiroth. Sephiroth is no less life than any other creature on the Planet no matter the trauma he's caused because he is the apex of ignorance in all it's forms. If even Sephiroth can finally accept the life he's lived instead of run away from it by becoming immortal and allow the Lifestream to dissolve him into its core of memories then the message for Life over Power that FF7 seems to attempt to do will be bulls-eyed.
Sephiroth's redemption I think will be a continuation of how FF7 has already portrayed redemption, where one faces the horrors of their life instead of running away, accepts their own failed opportunities of choosing awareness over ignorance (life over death) and that none of it can be forgotten, and ultimately sacrifices their ego for a better future beyond themselves. Given that Sephiroth is the archetypal ego of human consciousness I do believe his redemption will be his sacrifice in choosing to do what his character so cruelly and ignorantly avoided, dissolving into the Lifestream, and becoming a memory finally. I'll also wildly add that Cloud may be the only one to witness Sephiroth's redemption leaving Sephiroth to be remembered not as the Messiah but the Monster of monsters. But Cloud is all that matters because, through Cloud, we, the ones in which Sephiroth was given the imprisoned life he lived, we too bear witness. And we're the ones that needed to witness it the most
But given the graveyard shift is going strong again all this can easily be one brutally fun whiff of theorycrafting 🤣 But hey if the Lifestream is truly the way then Redemption must be in play.
So yeah for a story that deeply shaped my childhood I'm maintaining my impressed excitement for the storytelling on display throughout the Remake project that does remind me of that feeling of OG without being a copy of OG. These devs got that refined creative juice forged through years of suffering for our entertainment and I'm here to accept their one request. Engage the unknown journey.
@@MysterEeee "Given that Sephiroth is the archetypal ego of human consciousness I do believe his redemption will be his sacrifice in choosing to do what his character so cruelly and ignorantly avoided, dissolving into the Lifestream, and becoming a memory finally."
This is the first time someone has ever expressed a version of "redemption" that's intrigued me. It's not even redemption, it's more so self-actualization. Sephiroth taunts Cloud as a puppet all throughout OG but is actually a puppet himself. And some theorizers like Sleepezi have proposed that Sephiroth is trying to break Jenova's control over him. If he is, what will he do when he has his own will? Maybe something evil, sure. But maybe he will also be able to finally see the pointlessness of his ambitions and succumb to his fate... finally. It actually reminds me of an antagonist in FF14, but I don't want to say too much in case you haven't played and plan to.
THE GOAT HAS RETURNED
I remember being ass mad when Final Fantasy XV was freshly released and they were quoting the idea of wanting to make a Final Fantasy VII Remake. I laughted loud and said, there is no chance they get that game remaked like they advertised to do. Such a big Game so many mechanical deepths like makeing your own materia.
Now it's 2023 and i can say my thoughts were way worse then they are now. Of course i miss many old mechanics that didn't translate good into PS4, but takeing all of there work in account i gotta say they made a pretty damn good job, i never thought for them to actually peace together what i thought a Remake of FFVII would look like. It's "Almost" a perfect Remake of a game, by now we all know what they ment by "makeing a remake" but even now it seems like a honest attempt at a Remake.
I called in to work, bought FF7 and the Wu-Tang Forever double cd in the same day. Once I started I couldn’t stop this game. I recently bought a PS5 just for this game, the music brings me back. I also bought FF7 for my phone too lol. Awesome video man. Much respect.
Wu-Tang Forever! DOUBLE CD!? Wow now there’s a throwback haha. I remember those days… and then the era of burning CDs.
LMAO that happy turtle cut! Masterfully done
Haha I was hoping someone would mention it because it was my favorite editing idea that made me laugh every time I watched through different drafts of the vids.
You definitely got a big laugh out of me!
I believe it will be the player’s goal in the final game to stop Sephiroth from erasing Final Fantasy 7. We’ll be fighting to restore our favorite video game’s story.
Perfect lol.
But.... for restore it we should cancel ff7remake 😂
We defeated numens in order to NOT have the old game
I'm beginning to think his goal is unite all timelines and be victorious in all of them. And the party will try to make sure Sephiroth is gone in all of them so he never comes back.
@@dfurda18This one👍🏻💯
So we're going thru all of this just to circle back to the game with the bad ending? Lol, no
It shocks me a bit how much theorycrafters are just dismissing the "I killed Tifa" part outright. So far I've yet to hear anyone think about it deeper than "well Sephiroth is just messing with Cloud". It fits into a larger picture of what I'm thinking will be the major twist of this story, which is that the Cloud we play as is 'not Cloud', it's someone else, or perhaps even an alternate version of him, made to take his place in this world. His memory of Tifa being killed by Sephiroth are _correct_ - they just happened in a different world.
I talked about the Tifa thing extensively in my last video. I imagine you'd probably think it's "just Sephiroth messing with Cloud," but it does fit a pattern of Sephiroth misrepresented past events as he did in the OG when he showed Cloud was was "technically" the truth about what happened in the past, but did so as a way to make Cloud believe he wasn't real and was never in Nibelheim.
I'm still not sure how the multiple worlds thing works, so it's hard to theorize confidently about. That said, I do think it's plausible that part of Sephiroth's plan is to merge realities that have different circumstances (e.g. Zack alive vs Zack dead) and that's how I read lines like "The world will be saved, but will you?" -- implying that the new merged world might escape a previous fate, but the merging may be so messy that it'll be hard to tell what's real or what makes it.
@@SubTXT_ Well yeah from what I can tell your theory is that Cloud's memory is just wrong and Tifa simply didn't die, which to me is just not a satisfying way to resolve this, unless the emphasis the trailers have placed on this conflict is overblown compared to the actual game. Now I do believe that Sephiroth may spin this to make Cloud believe Tifa is an apparition of Jenova, yes, but I do believe there's a truth hidden beneath it that is instrumental in piecing together the bigger picture of what's going on with Cloud and the world - would be pretty on brand for FF7 that way.
@@Karifean Ich bin etwas geschockt, dass du, der die Lore von Final Fantasy VII kennt, überhaupt an Realitätenzeug darin glaubt. Es funktioniert nämlich nicht und sie müssten einiges auslassen.
@@Cetra29 Weiß nicht was dein Blick aufs Realitätenzeug ist, aber ich glaub nicht dass es Zeitmanipulation ist. Eine Theorie die ich mir denken könnte, ist dass Remake sich in den letzten Momenten des Originalspiels abspielt während Holy am wirken ist, und die Welt, die wir in Remake spielen quasi die Evaluation oder Simulation des Planeten ist, um zu entscheiden ob die Menschheit mit verschwinden soll oder nicht. Was mir nicht aus dem Kopf geht ist dass in der Szene wo Zack überlebt, Midgar gerade erst zu entstehen scheint. Also ich glaub eher an eine Art 'artificial worlds' statt 'time travel'.
@@Karifean
Erstmal finde ich es schön, mal wieder mit dir zu reden. Ist viel zu lange her.
Das wird jetzt ein etwas längerer Post. Ich hoffe, du liest ihn.
Deine Idee bezüglich der hypothetischen Realitäts, quasi die Idee einer Zukunft die aber nicht wirklich existiert, ist interessant. Endlich mal was anderes als das was jeder sonst wiederkäut.
Ich denke aber nicht, dass das der Fall sein wird. Ich will jetzt erstmal ein paar Sachen aufrollen.
Warum existiert das Remake Projekt und waurm schwafelt jeder "das ist kein Remake, es ist eine Fortsetzung!!!"?
1. Es ist zwar eine Fortsetzung. Aber es ist trotzdem ein Remake. Diese Dinge sind nicht beidseitig ausschließbar. Und ich rede nicht von Inuniverse-Remake
- wie es irgendwie auch der Fall ist, sondern aus Game Design-Perspektive. Remake ist ein Wischiwaschi-Wort welches immer anders benutzt wird, aber
es bedeutet eigentlich immer, dass bekannte Punkte neu aufgelegt werden. Und das trifft hier auch zu, egal, ob es eine Fortsetzung ist.
So, warum macht eine Fortsetzung Sinn und warum ein Remake?
1. Mit Sephiroth und Genesis nicht abgeschlossen narrativ und ihrme Statement in 2008 dass das Finale der Compilation eine andere Form brauchen wird, war klar, dass es weitergeht. Sie
sagten damals zwar, sie haben momentan nichts geplant, aber was sie anderweitig sagten und an Türen offen liesen, hat es einfach erforderlich gemacht.
2. Jeder hat seit 2005 nach einem Remake geschrien.
Es war also klar, man sollte beides abstecken und das haben sie gemacht, indem sie einfach ein Unified Product gemacht haben, welches Remake und Sequel ist. Mit Ever Crisis haben
sie es dann sogar nochmal mehr oder weniger gemacht, vor allem den Remake-Aspekt.
Gut, also jetzt haben wir das vorerst mal geklärt. Der nächste Punkt ist der Inhalt.
Was muss man zeigen?
Wenn es irgendwie ein Remake sein soll, muss der wichtigste Teil von Final Fantasy VII gezeigt werden.
Es muss das aufgelöst werden, was Advent children und Dirge of Cerberus offen gelassen haben.
Was wissen wir darüber?
Sephiroth hat in Der Blick nach vorn/On the Way to a Smile Black Lifestream fast seine eigenständige Existenz an den Lebensstrom verloren. Da er anders als Aerith nicht
an eine "andere Form" von Fortbestehen als Teil des Lebensstroms glaubt, sondern dass mit dem Entreißen des Ichs einfach die Person weg ist - was das wohl Menschlichste und Realitischste
an Ängsten überhaupt ist - hat er einen Weg gesucht, wie er sich selbst retten kann. Das hat er gemacht, indem er die meisten seiner mentalen Bestandteile aufgegeben hat und seine Seele
an Clouds Erinnerungen gebunden hat. So kann er, auch falls der Lebensstrom ihm noch mehr wegnimmt, letztendlich sein Bewusstsein und seine Seele wiederherstellen. Das ist zurselben Zeit entstanden,
als Nojima-san seine Final Fantasy X-Phase hatte und wir wissen ja, dass er in Final Fantasy X die Möglichkeit aufgezählt hat, dass die Illumna die in Wechselwirkung mit den Erinnerungen
der Leute stehen, ein Abbild von ihnen zeigt und dass er beiläufig auch mal in X/X-2 hat erwähnen lassen, dass in den Erinnerungen evtl. der Kern eines Bewusstseins einer Person sein könnte.
Wir wissen, dass er das auch weitergesponnen hat, weil er ja Shuyin ins Spiel gebracht hat und dort auf Basis der Erinnerungen von Shuyin eigenständige Shuyins fortbestanden haben. Damit
will ich jetzt nicht sagen, dass es ein neuer Sephiroth ist, wenn es nur die Erinnerungen sind, denn das ist er nicht, da sein Kern immer fortbestanden hat, aber thematisch hat Nojima-san
zumindest all diese Sachen etabliert und ich weiß natürlich, dass du nicht der größte Fan von seiner VII und X-Verbindung bist, aber das müssen wir jetzt außen vor lassen, weils
logischerweise um das geht, was er auf Basis seiner eigenen Konzepte schreiben würde.
Also, was haben wir jetzt eigentlich besprochen?
Erinnerungen.
Watashi wa omoide de ni wa naranai sa.
Sephiroth UND Final Fantasy VII sind schon IMMER thematisch mit Erinnerungen verknüpft. Das ganze Lebensstrom-Konzept, wie man zaubert, wie Sephiroth stärker wird,
warum der Planet stirbt, Clouds und Vincents Schuldgefühle, das Gedenken an Aerith. Einfach alles.
Einige Leute haben es schon geschnallt und versuchen, das Remake zumindest teilweise mit Sephiroths Satz zu verbinden, der nichts anderes heißt als "wir sehen uns in der Fortsetzung von AC".
Aber dann erreichen sie einen Punkt, an dem sie plötzlich vom Erinnerungsthema abweichen und irgendeinen Zeitnmist erwähnen.
Jetzt erstmal dazu:
Squara steht es frei zu tun, was sie wollen und sie können sich so vieli in ihrer Fiktion widersprechen, wie sie wollen. Aber nur weil sie das können,
gehe ich nicht standardmäßig davon aus. Ich gehe davon aus, dass Nojima-san konsistent mit seiner Arbeit bleibt und der Thematik.
i appreciate you discussing your thought process about how your opinions have changed overtime as far as theorymaking goes... a big pet peeve of mine is people adjusting their opinions in the community without acknowledging it to perpetuate an ongoing idea that they have been always right the whole time lol... its one thing that annoys me about quite a few people that make ff7r theory content. Great video, subscribing for more great content in the future :)
Imagine if they let the saddest part of og to play out differently, (yet masterfully) all of us who teared down with somber sadness back in the day would tear down with happiness instead.
This one is a true remake, not just upping the graphics, frame rates or quality. They are making it again!
And it's horrific! Yet exciting!
We'll just have to see.
Brilliant reflection. Thank you very much!
Thanks and hey 👋🏽, I remember you from the Final FanTV live chat (I think that's where it was)
Hey! Yeah I was there, I asked who's backstory people would like to see more of. It was a great chat by the way, really glad I was able to catch it.
You really have outdone yourself again, the edits are just *chefs kiss*!
oh i'm gonna savor those 40 minutes properly later today! I was waiting for this video!
Thanks! Looking forward to hearing what you think :)
As always, excellent!
I don’t want to see the same story again that I know what happens so I’m glad if and when they change things to surprise us as long as they are made with care. I believe they are since they are the creators of the OG story as well.
After all, the locations are the same, the characters are the same. There’s nothing that they can do to bother unless they make me wait for so many years only to deliver the same story I know.
Btw the OG FF7 isn’t perfect either. We don’t have to absolutely love something new to consider it perfect for ourselves. And for me, this new Remake Project has to give us new things to be perfect. Or else; I’ll only see it as a waste of time for me being excited for it. I want new story elements and gameplay elements. I want mystery and shocking twists.
18:36 I know you said it's all fun guesses but we can immediately cut all of that off. The devs confirmed when this trailer came out in 2022 that it was the nibelheim flashback, and this version of the game was probably a super alpha walking demonstration and not even close to finished. There have been thousands of instances where characters change completely from visual to outfits before and after a game comes out, so it's one hundo percent nothing but an oversight.
LIkely, but definitely not 100%. The team has already used subtle visual differences as hints MULTIPLE TIMES during part 1 and the dlc. I agree that its unlikely, but to say impossible is silly.
I do feel like devs have been telling white lies like crazy. They also said it’ll still be the “same” story but are clearly using that word loosely. The devs also said in interviews that Chapter 18 dealt heavily with “memories of the future,” which were 100% not part of the original story at all. So by definition, the story is changed and has changed enough to say that the dictionary definition of “same” is not being adhered to.
I often reference dev quotes because it’s important to contrast with that they’ve said, but they are definitely lying to some extent to throw us off the scent.
@@Shiftarus to further my point, cloud's attack animation in the trailers from 2019 and the tgs were completely different from the finished game, yet, they are Rebirth's deadly dodge animation now. I agree that they have done hard to spot seemingly insignificant details before, but this one doesn't seem like a big deal, even more when you realize that Cloud's flashback model when he sleeps at Aerith's house is still entirely different from the flashback in rebirth. To me it shows that they wanted to fully recreate Cloud's model just for the flashback but it wasn't finished at the time, so they just reused the model from remake.
Things I expect in part 3:
- Explanation of why Cloud is the only person who can defeat Sephiroth. No more speculation or fan theories, give us the actual reason he always wins. There is no reason Sephiroth should be going easy on him, Sephiroth should be well beyond aware of the fact he never wins against Cloud that he can't possibly, at this point, be holding back against him, he would legit be the dumbest person with such insight to the future if he is STILL holding back, like my dawg, listen, that man literally always wins every time you hold back.
Didn’t they kind of explain this in Crisis Core with Cloud being the only living person to possess S cells? There’s also the added tangle of Sephiroth latching his own existence to Cloud’s…
@@smilinjack87 He beat Sephiroth before getting the S cells.
The clip with the music from 1:15 - 1:20 was brilliant!
Haha thanks. All of the audio was from the original teaser trailer and all throughout my edit, it was bothering me that the sound effects from the teaser didn't match up with the footage. So when I remembered the scene of Cloud & Zack walking, I thought, "that'll actually match up!" haha
Dude, you are a true fucking blue FFVII fan. I hope they stick to your philosophy regarding story changes. Since yeah, I don't want a different story where Aerith lives and Zack and Cloud fight in a big MCU Endgame derivative sequence at the end of Part 3. I want that Core story, but using these elements to basically recreate that sense of unease for OG fans, just to put things in place as they were by the end. It could be a really effective way to get us to really feel like we're playing FFVII for the first time.
Whatever the case, even if they fuck it all up, Rebirth looks like an incredible video game ass video game. So at the very least, it sounds like we'll get the perfect remake of the game for at least 90% of the run time.
The opening for this is fantastic, great job
I've had a theory that Genisis might be in this game. I feel like Crisis Core is gonna have its "unofficial sequel" during Rebirth and it'll take a crazy turn where Zack is now in a midgar in the future and so is Genesis
When I finished the remake I was so shocked at seeing Zack alive, but I was so hyped we were getting a new story. The old story is great, but having a new experience will be fun 😊
Also I think if sephiroth says 'worlds' then that's probably the better word than timeline, not that I care but people really can't argue with the literal words of the game
great video
My prediction for the 3rd installment will be titled Final Fantasy 7: Reunion /Reconciliation /Reunite /Resolution or something similar :D
If anyone remember the movie Final Fantasy: The Spirit Within which came after FF7 OG, I believe the ending will be similar. This movie is about the struggle of the people locale to the planet against an alien spirit. The alien spirit is basically not compatible with the spirits of the planet and the former slowly devours the latter. These 2 spirits can be compared to the current state of the lifestream in FF7, The pure lifestream against the corrupted (geostigma). When Sephiroth says combining both worlds, I believe he was referring in reconciling this 2 lifestream. In the movie, if I remember correctly, the protagonist was searching for a new life form because the spirit of that life form represents reconciliation of the 2 contradicting spirits and is the key. I think the 3rd installment of the Remake Project will be something similar and I believe Cloud will be the catalyst that wasn’t triggered in the OG and Sephiroth found a way on how to do so.
It's interesting you mention Spirits Within because I wasn't really a fan of it when it came out. It also didn't "feel" like Final Fantasy, whatever that means. But it was actually free here on RUclips for a while last year and I rewatched the first half. It was better than I remembered actually and I was surprised how much elements of it did remind me of the Lifestream and FF7 even though most people originally hated it because it felt nothing like games like FF7. On the surface, yes. But there were definitely some thematic similarities. I started watching late one night and never finished it though, so don't remember how it ended haha.
@@SubTXT_ Yeah I could barely remember the specifics of the ending as well but the idea was that the 2 form of spirits was able to merge and became one, and it only needed the birth of the first lifeform from both spirits. I'm not sure if this new lifeform will be represented by Cloud, or if It will be Sephiroth (with Cloud's help but not sure if it will succeed). This could be what the Rebirth means :D
Remember they mentioned the Jenova moves from one planet to another, and that the OG ending was bad? We can actually consider the movie happened after Jenova was done with the FF7 lifestream and moved to another planet except in the movie, they found a way to defeat Jenova. And I believe this is why there is a Remake Project, to defeat Jenova in the FF7 OG timeline.
I actually have a Theory of my own. I am not tracking anything outside RUclips so I'm not sure if there is something similar to it already out there hehe It all basically revolves around the LIFESTREAM
This is a well made and edited video. I enjoyed it. Good work!
Even though I'm kind of checked out of the FF7R series (I'm one of "those people" who wanted a retelling of the original story, not an alternate story that attempts to recreate the same feelings I had when I played the original), I'm still happy for those who are excited for the rest of the story. It's still fun to see the ff7R community's speculation and positive vibes that keep the hype train rolling.
There's an alternate version of me in another timeline where I'm still with you all.
It's interesting to hear you say that because I know that feeling from the other side. I watched a video a while back that I can't remember the name of that basically argued the opposite of what I have. The ways that FF7R misses the point of its OG themes already and how whatever they're doing will be a bit empty. That's a pretty common take, but the way this person expressed it was REALLY good. I even agreed with a lot of what he said, but I am just more open to where it can possibly go and how it can be fulfilling in its own right.
But it was an interesting experience of, "this person makes a lot of GREAT points, but my heart doesn't feel quite the same way (yet)." It causes some doubt at times. Am I being TOO open-minded? Is my hope actually just cope? It's hard to say, and I will have no way of knowing until this whole trilogy is said and done.
Rebirth will be the Empire Strikes Back of FF7
We cant know what comes next but we can know what happened. I'm working on a video showcasing how it can still be a single timeline. Between before crisis having a battle against a world ending summon in a singularity (the same one as in the sky for Zack, at the same month and most likely days as the original Japanese mobile game), to all the other details such as the advent children and OG script referring to pure white space as the "World of White" and the pure black space as the "World of Black", and that Dirge introduced black/negative/Jenova LifeStream as a concept (the world of black) and regular LifeStream introduced in The Kids Are Alright as "a pure white world"... there's plenty to suggest the one timeline theory, with these events being altered, checks out.
To put it in it's simplest terms, play remake with the assumption that the very first event changed is Zack lives, and Zack leaves the sword with Cloud on October 4th where Tifa meets him and starts coaxing him into the December 12th bombing in FF7 remake's start, which already occurs at a different time of night than the OG.
I mean, I’m always down to hear new theories. I’m not sure how the two Stamps coexist in what you’re proposing, but I’ll check out the vid whenever it’s done.
@@SubTXT_ Given the western localization team was permitted to create their own version of stamp, and the cinematic team was told to add it in at the last minute, I wouldn't take it as representing anything other than Zack the puppy. I wish the design was more clear, but Remake's Stamp is shown with a camel for a movie alongside a rug (Aladdin anyone? The camel face and the monkey Apu look so similar), we also learn from intergrade that Stamp has a Captain (another dog) and a Commander (a human). What's to say Stamp wouldn't have a friend that like many branded cereals and chips with multiple characters, that a great capitalistic move is to feature different ones to get people to collect them all.
Beyond that, in Before Crisis there's the Zirconiade. Known as the World Ender, this summon is a pseudo Weapon meant to kill all life on the planet to return it to the lifestream in the event that the physical world were in apocalyptic peril. It would then be the duty of the Omega Weapon (Dirge) to launch the LifeStream onto a new rock, or "Star". Don't ask, the planet's name in Japanese is Hoshi, the trailer in 2015 referred to the planet as "The Star" and Bugenhagen whole hovering over the planet refers to it as "Our Star". Comedically, in the spirits within there is reference to a planet near a very familiar pair of universes, where the alien infestation came from a planet known as "The Star". Fun, isn't it?
Anyway... As it happens the Zirconiade is fought by the Turks (soon to be Turks in exile from Zack's perspective) in a "pocket dimension" in which Midgar is destroyed during the battle. Pocket Dimension can also translate as Black Hole (See OG Bugenhagen planetarium) and as "Singularity".
Defeating the Zirconiade there did nothing to alter any timelines, but it looked in the sky for several days as the events splitting avalanche into multiple cells, including The Old Guard which chose to fight against Fuhito's betrayal and his followers that believe only the extinction of the human race could save the world.
Jade weapon activates to fight this but doesn't make it in time. It then hunts the Turks in exile for months until being defeated at a random place based on where the player was in the real world, but was canonized suspiciously recently (a year before remake released) to be in Icicle Inn.
Also for more fun, listen to Genesis's last quote, and then the 2015 narration. Look for the signs Genesis mentioned never seen in the game. It's a pretty close response to Genesis's mention of the promise not yet made, and then the promise finally being here.
Also, Sephiroth in his first few lines in remake paraphrases and then directly matched a quote from Genesis...quoting loveless.
Worse, Sephiroth has quoted loveless a few times in remake. Just without the pompous tone Genesis is known for, or the reverence for it.
Also, Genesis's limit break and the rebirth title card animation... heheh...ah.. he's coming back. Better brace for it.
Even the single timeline theory still works with the concept of the o.g. being it's separate timeline.
Whether you think it's two different timelines or we go at sleepezi's concept and either way have it single universe altered timeline... I put the event exact surviving being the very first change made.
There are four whispers.
Four whispers are in Sephiroth's key art for the remake. Four whispers surround the enigma. Four whispers are present when the voice of sephiroth tells Cloud to go to sleep. Four whispers work against any logic as far as what the whispers are trying to do.
Every scene where Zack is supposed to speak according to nomura's written Ultamania Omega has been replaced with Sephiroth speaking or simply appearing.
Doesn't that strike you as a little odd? The OG is the other timeline even in the single timeline theory. The only difference is whether they run in parallel. Also note that sell product is described as having his own World in which he investigates events in the past.
You could consider the terrier being the original timeline and it would work. Whatever the case the events have been altered it starts from Zack and it goes forward.
Given Zack is supposed to die on the 17th of September he has until October 4th to give Cloud The sword and then part ways.
In the OG, BC, CC, and DC, the world is completely screwed it has no way to save itself. The last thing we know to happen is Genesis wakes up and announces the final act, while having a red materia in his chest (as a weapon of the planet), and holding Weiss, whom embodies Omega Weapon.
The only other thing we know is the 300 years later, and.... Sephiroth at the edge of creation is "holding time still" and "manipulating the memories of the planet".
Sephiroth's world, where the planet is doomed, Zack's s world of a manipulated past sparking the altered timeline, and Cloud's world, one where Zack is removed from all that supported his worldview, where in remake he mirrors Zack's gestures rather than copies them (but the past is copied more precisely with gestures in the correct direction)... When they merge, the world's of the LifeStream with an altered world memory to make solid a new reality and fate....
@@SubTXT_I'm finally working on that video but since this came back up in an auto play at work, I thought I would point out something I noticed with watching several more recent anime, in Japan they have finally adopted an older American phrase of "our worlds arent compatible.". It's difficult in a single sentence without context, but the world of an infantryman and a Soldier first class, an office clerk and the CEO, the slum dweller and those up on high. Think Ariel in My Little Mermaid wanting to be "a part of your world.". It isn't literal.
I've also learned in every language but English, Tifa says that she just told the landlady that Cloud "showed up the night before last and needed a place to stay, was it too much?" This is a HUGE departure from the compilation timeline of being discovered in an "enviable" state in the sector 7 train station where Tifa almost missed him entirely on October 4th which had been maintained as the canon even in Crisis Core's Ultimania, which was then the latest game, in a timeline that was put together by Nomura himself.
So if Cloud really did pop up out of nowhere on December 10th even though he is there with Zack in September/October for the huge events at the ending of Before Crisis, and the moment that Barret got booted out of regular avalanche right as Avalanche split into multiple separate sects during an avalanche cold civil war that starts in sector 5, where Fuhito intends to use avalanche leader Elfe and what becomes the Old Guard to try and genocide the human race with the World Ender summon...
That tells me that indeed, Zack is one of the earliest alterations to the remake world... We have been in the split since the beginning.
I love the part where you say, "imagine the debates they had..." when talking about the devs deciding to make the remake more than just a remake. There's a portion of the fanbase that basically has this attitude that remake is a soulless cash grab that's been kingdom hearted. It's such BS. That sentiment is so surface level and unappreciative of the art direction.
Im a giant ff7 fan and i love that the devs got me nerding out about ff7 for the last 5 years. Only thing i would have changed in part 1 was some of the exposition about the whispers, so that it wasn't so obvious (although do we REALLy know what they are still?) And i would have made the game M rated and not have all enemies immediately disperse to the lifestream so that we could have a proper jenova blood trail recreation and some grit with the combat. It's not a deal breaker though but it really stood out to me as a miss.
My though exactly!! now I don't care about theories anymore I just wanted to play the game!!!
haha for the first couple of days after the trailer and info dropped, I was thinking, "I don't have anything to say, I think. I don't even care about my theories, I just want to PLAY that game." That's what eventually inspired the first part of the video and made me question why I cared so much about theories over the years.
1st I thought that we might be playing 2 separate timelines based on what Seph told Cloud at the end of the remake.
But after the new trailers and videos it could also be that Zack and Cloud got separated after Zack entrausted Clouzd to that person, and Cloud went on the journey like in the original. And Zack was trying to find him but couldn't and we'll exprience Cloud and crew's deeds in Remake as Zack in this one.
The disappointment, I feel, will be if they continue to utilize Sephiroth as a villain and not an anti-hero. There are so many clues and hints and subtext that Jenova has been the one main villain of this game above all else and yet people still continue believing that Sephiroth is the one that's in control in spite of all the evidence showing that he was no more than a pawn like the rest of those infused with Jenova's cells.
I've been VERY resistant to a Sephiroth "redemption" arc (for lack of a better word) for a long time until a commenter on this video named MysterEeee left a really long comment with his POV. I found it pretty fascinating, actually. It gets a bit heady and philosophical, but it's interesting. This is a long quote from their comment, but still trimmed down a bit.
"Post OG almost feels entirely devoted to redemption but not the evil guy turned good so let's wave away all the trauma they caused. Instead I think FF7 has always attempted to portray all humanity, all life, as beyond the paradigm of evil and good and under one of ignorance and awareness. And redemption within the paradigm of ignorance and awareness is portrayed differently than within a world of evil vs good...
...So redemption takes on the form of enlightenment of your role and actions within a world not within your control, the form of acceptance. Compilation showed us Cloud needed to accept his role in the deaths of Aerith and Zack, Rufus needed to accept his role in the death of the Planet, Reeve needed to accept his role in the death of his citizens, Cid needed to accept his death of Shera's love, etc.
...However the character that I believe needed redemption the most in order for FF7 to really celebrate the message of the Lifestream, the one stripped of humanity before birth, the one designed out ignorant evil instead of conscious love: Sephiroth. Sephiroth is no less life than any other creature on the Planet no matter the trauma he's caused because he is the apex of ignorance in all it's forms. If even Sephiroth can finally accept the life he's lived instead of run away from it by becoming immortal and allow the Lifestream to dissolve him into its core of memories then the message for Life over Power that FF7 seems to attempt to do will be bulls-eyed.
...Given that Sephiroth is the archetypal ego of human consciousness I do believe his redemption will be his sacrifice in choosing to do what his character so cruelly and ignorantly avoided, dissolving into the Lifestream, and becoming a memory finally."
This is the first time someone has ever expressed a version of "redemption" that's intrigued me. It's not even redemption, it's more so self-actualization. Sephiroth taunts Cloud as a puppet all throughout OG but is actually a puppet himself (as you noted). And some theorizers like Sleepezi have proposed that Sephiroth is trying to break Jenova's control over him. If he is doing that, then what will he do when he has his own will? Maybe something evil, sure. But maybe he will also be able to finally see the pointlessness of his ambitions and succumb to his fate... finally. It actually reminds me of an antagonist in FF14, but I don't want to say too much in case you haven't played and plan to.
@@SubTXT_ No worries about the FF14 stuff, I played it but when it comes to MMOs I typically don't buy into the story that much.
And I would say that poster sounds more akin to my thoughts about the whole ordeal, but someone who is much more of a "feeler" than a "thinker" when it comes to the evidence presented. I agree with his premise 100% but I would add the caveat that Sephiroth, as we know him in the games, has been dead since Nibelheim.
Now my memory is fuzzy so I do not know if this was compilation stuff or if it was discussed in the OG game, but the Lifestream purges all Jenova cells from a person, or has the power to, and essentially "purifies" them, which is who I believe we see at the end of Remake. That is Nibelheim Sephiroth that perished without the influence of any Jenova cells at all.
Everything else, in the OG going forward, is Jenova. Period. End stop. It's Jenova wearing a Sephiroth mask.
I'll be honest, I have been kind of weary of theory videos, not even because I dislike the theories, but because the timeline stuff has been the one think I dont love about Remake. But this video is pretty amazing, the first part was so well said and pretty much described how I also stopped worrying about the potential twists and how I just want to play the game and see how they recreate classic scenes and areas. And the theory that Sephiroth is trying to strip Cloud of his identity by screwing with the timeline and making the lifestream scene more impactful is genius. I will be slightly disappointed if that isn't what ends up happening now.
Thanks so much. I really try to make videos that I think are additive to the whole discourse vs just being another dude on RUclips.
I also get scared that sometimes my dream scenarios might be better than what they come up with… but so far they haven’t really disappointed.
But honestly, just being in that fully realized version of the world might be enough to make it one of my favorite games ever… even if they whiff on the new mysteries.
Subbed! And I hope Cloud gets the chance to save Aerith
I hope they use the Remake trilogy assets to make the original game 1-to-1 so we can experience the original with updated graphics and so many of the fans who feel they were betrayed will be satisfied and I would like that too. I enjoy the remake and fine either way but there are fans who really want the original remade 1-to-1.
At this point, I’ll enjoy the trilogy for the combat system, the characters, the music and the iconic locations. Multiple timelines is a miss for me. A more faithful remake with those assets would be a dream come true
Thank you.
You deserve more subscribers my brother. Keep at it this video was perfect.
So I have no idea how I found you... unless RUclips heard me talking at work about thinking of playing remake. I enjoyed the video
Note; the name fighting fantasy was taken by an adventure book series, hirinobu Sakaguchi wanted ff as the initials so final became the name.... not originally because of the financial trouble
Its simple, Sephiroth is going to undo everything that changed Cloud. Sephiroth wants Cloud to be weak and naïve instead of determined and headstrong.
What is really strange when you’re talking about the reason they are spoiling the part about Cloud being an unreliable narrator is that you never mention the fact of WHY they spoiled entirely the death of Aerith in the Remake. They literally showed Cloud leaving her into the water too. It’s one of the biggest and most sad twists and moments in the OG and they literally just spoiled it in the Remake so it’s strange that you never mention that as to why they did that.
I mention it in the video where I talked specifically about the twist. Aerith’s death is WIDELY known and its VERY easy to stumble across it. It’s like the “Luke I am your father” of gaming. It’s everywhere and very hard to avoid. I’ve seen lots of playthroughs with new players and 90% have said, “I do know that she dies.” Most often they’re only surprised by how early it happens in the story. But those same people don’t know the truth about Cloud because it’s complicated. But Aerith’s death is all over general FF7 RUclips thumbnails, people mention it in online convos without any spoiler warnings. It’s a big moment, but not a surprising one anymore even for new people.
@@SubTXT_ I don’t know about RUclips. Maybe it is, but for me who played the Remake first, it was shocking because I went to play the OG a month later last year after the Remake (I’m new to 7) and it made sense that Cloud was tearing up.
So yes, many on the internet know but millions of others don’t, like I didn’t. I’m still shocked they did that back then. Anyway. Hopefully they have something cooking up on that as well.
I like Remake infinitely more than the original. I welcome every single change, a 1:1 remake would have been boring and that's why I didn't like the idea of splitting it into 3 games. I'm glad they've made it worth it, making 3 full games instead of taking one and splitting it in 3.
Still watching the video but just wanna clarify that the name Final Fantasy wasnt chosen due to the circumstances of Square. They had considered Fighting Fantasy but couldn't use the name and went with Final. I also thought it was that same story you mentioned but it's been cleared up in recent years.
Yeah, I had heard it had been refuted. That's why I said, "as the legend goes." I probably should've said, "as the debatably true legend goes." But sometimes reality can be a buzzkill haha and the point still stands that making FF7 as they did was a risky move.
@@SubTXT_ gotcha, yeah, Sakaguchi himself was the one who mentioned where the name came from, which is why I wanted to point that out. Thanks for taking the time to respond, great video that has me thinking about my own theories on what's going on with the remake trilogy. Keep up the good work!
I think the multiple worlds theory is good because even in Ever Crisis, during the melon tonberry quest it's clear Zak and aerith are meeting the tonberry in 2 different realities
YOU NAILED IT !!! 😃
I watched the first half of this video, but skipped the second half cause I'm not really into theories and speculation. 'Still great though, and your insight is always appreciated. :)
I just want to mention however (and don't worry; you are NOT at fault for this AT ALL) that the line from the 2015 reveal trailer - about how "[The Remake Trilogy] may bring joy. It may bring fear. But let us embrace whatever it brings." - angers me. It actually irritates me because it comes across as egotistical on the part of the devs. Perhaps this is just my own uncharitable interpretation, but to me it sounds as if the developers are saying: "Even if we royally screw this up; even if we fail to recapture what you love about FFVII, we still want you guys to buy it and like it anyway because of the work we put into it."
To that, my answer is a resounding: "No."
As a consumer, it is not my job to buy and sing praises to art that I don't like. If the 7R trilogy fails, I most certainly will not embrace it (I'll stick to the OG and/or move onto other games - living as if the 7R trilogy never even happened).
Again, that may just be my own cynical interpretation of the quote, but as you can probably tell, I'm not the kind of person who has much faith in the motives of others, and I don't exactly have a high opinion of Nomura, Toriyama, Nojima and Kitase. (They haven't written a decent story since Final Fantasy X, which leads me to suspect that their successes were mostly due to Sakaguchi being around to steer them in the right direction.)
The trailer quote reminds me of Karl Marx's claim that "the value of a good/service [should be] determined by the effort that went into making/providing it."
That sounds fair in principle, but it's not how things work in the real world. The reality is that the value of a good or service is determined by what people are willing to pay for it. If the good/service you're offering isn't something that people want, then they are under no obligation to support you.
I know this is rather transactionally-minded. But whether you're looking at it from an economic perspective or an artistic perspective - the fact remains: no amount of effort makes a work exempt from criticism, and no one is obligated to praise an artist's work if said artist isn't making something that is of interest to them.
While I think your opinion is of course valid, I do want to push back on one thing that is a common criticism: that this was driven by economic greed.
NOTE: I’m not sure if that was one of your points, but I was triggered by the mention of questioning their motives and since I’m replying on my phone, it won’t let me scroll through your comment as I type so I can double check. So if that wasn’t your point then I guess disregard the rest of this.
Was a trilogy of games economically drive? Sure, to some extent, but the scope of each of these installments truly does seem to rival most other AAA productions of full narratives. Perhaps there’s some fat in Remake that is more noticeable on the 2nd run, but given the ground they have to cover in Rebirth, I don’t think we’ll run into the same problem.
But again, I think it’s the idea of changes that people view as some economically driven choice. I struggle to see that, personally. Let’s take a look at it from the POV of the two prospective audiences for this game.
New players: the concept of changing the story completely goes over their head and chapter 18 only has the potential to confuse them so much that they nope out of the rest of the story. A bit surprisingly to me, that hasn’t seemed to happen among new players I’ve seen playthroughs of. They’re very confused by the ending, but the first 17 chapters rope them enough into the character drama that they go with it. BUT I haven’t seen any players say, “I was really into FF7 Remake, but that crazy ending is the part that hooked me and THAT’S when I signed up to play the whole trilogy.” They could’ve gone with a more conventional ending and it would’ve been fine for this audience. The only major change would’ve probably been including more Sephiroth than in the Midgar section of OG since not having him would be like not having Darth Vader in a Star Wars remake. It would just be weird. Maybe they could keep him more limited through just Cloud headache flashbacks instead of directly intervening though.
In sum, the economic value of the changes for new players? Neutral.
OG fans: While the majority are along for the ride, there is a percentage (no idea how large) that are like you. They don’t like the changes and they’re out. There aren’t any OG fans I know who have said, “I wasn’t interested until I heard about the changes.” The ONLY possibility with this group was losing some portion of them.
Economic value of changes for OG fans? Net Negative.
There really was only a potential negative economic impact of making those story changes - the only real possibility was losing some portion because of them rather than gaining some because of them.
So, to me, that says that the changes were driven by artistic desires. Maybe they are misguided for all the reasons you pointed out, but I do think they are artistic/creative choices. And maybe they’re driven too much by the personal ego of the devs vs any true creative integrity, but I just have always rejected that it was driven by economic motives (unless they’re planning to make the end of the trilogy an open door to spin-offs).
@@SubTXT_ I wholly agree. I never meant to imply that the 7R trilogy is only being made for financial reasons. While I do believe that the ending was PARTIALLY economically-motivated (to keep players guessing and game the social media algorithms; creating free press in anticipation for the next game), I do sincerely believe that "artistic vision" was the main reason why the developers did what they did with the story.
I only brought economics into the discussion as an analogy: just like how businesses aren't owed cash simply because they put a lot of work into making a good or service, artists aren't owed praise simply because they put a lot of work into something.
That's my point. Beyond that analogy, I don't believe that Square Enix is making these games out of financial greed.
Love this video! Like that you are telling us your journey as far as how your opinions have evolved.
Thanks. Yeah, I think it’s important for us to be aware of where some of our feelings and biases are playing in when experiencing all this.
nice video homie
Said this on Twitter… Awesome video!
I still think it’s Aerith that remade Zack’s world and not Sephiroth (definitely visual cues to back this up) and this will be revealed during Rebirth at some point… yet I’m probably wrong and that’s the fun of theory crafting and what a great job they’ve done with the ‘new’ mysteries.
I have no doubt that by the end of the trilogy we will be saying they did nothing else but improve on the already generational greatness of the OG.
I'm open to everything at this point, for sure. And it could be Aerith given her final act on the portal. Not sure we'll 100% get the answer until Part 3, but I would love at least 1 or 2 big answers in this game before getting to the end.
Also, I share this anecdote EVERYWHERE so those ff7 sluts like me, sorry if you have seen this.
Anyway, the remake project is so incredibly interesting from my POV. As a kid I grew up playing FF7, but I sucked at RPGs and would get lost time and time again. So basically when I got out of Midgar and went to the world map, I restarted the game. Sometimes getting a tiny bit farther, sometimes I'd try to see how fast I can get through Midgar, sometimes to see how high level I could get before leaving. In my 100+ replays of the the Midgar section I only ever got as far as Corel when I was about 12? Anyway, so I knew the story of the game, I had watched it before so I knew the gist. So going into Remake, I was able to have my favorite part of 7, as well as the part of 7 that I consider the core of the game (I know its not) expanded like crazy and with love poured into it, I couldn't be happier. So the whole 'remake' part of the story I was kinda indifferent to because though I loved the story, my part of the game that I cherish was made so much cooler. I ended up playing through the entirety of 7 after remake, and in my late 20s at the time, I was able to fully grasp and relate to the themes and motifs. Now I have the original story dear in my heart, but I am able to live this weird world where I can relive that right after the first time experiencing the full original.
Also though, weirdly enough though I never beat the full OG as a kid, I played and watched every piece of the compilation, so seeing all that stuff integrated from my special, unusual experience with the compilation into one package was WILD.
So basically, I don't care much about the story changes based on my weird history with ff7. I'm trying to recognize more that people are able to dislike the direction. It makes sense, I was spoiled and got my childhood memories remade almost exactly, others might not have that experience so the timid approach to the trilogy makes sense.
ramble over. Can't wait for Feb 29 peeps!
Interesting perspective for sure. It sounds like the gameplay of the OG didn't click with you since you didn't fully play through. Was the remake style what you wanted?
the leak is correct so far : you can see Jessie still alive in the trailer, and part of some Gold Saucer play/tv show ...
so if the rest of the leak is true then, End of game has Zack saving Aerith from getting stabbed but it turns out Aerith is being used by Minerva as a vessel and transforms into her. Genesis also appears and has planned this entire alter(n)ate timeline to happen. He merges with her becoming The Warrior of Light. Cloud tries to intervene but gets mortally wounded by him.
Game ends with Cloud dying in Tifa's arms with Zack taking the mantle as the leader of the party.
The Cloud that was with Zack from the alternate timeline is kidnapped by Sephiroth for some reason
sadly FF7 was cut short at some places, but it is still a memorable game.
They expanding upon FF7 Remake and Rebirth is making me happy. I will even take two weeks off just to play it. :o
Not sure why I didn’t have all notifications on yet for this channel… problem has been solved
ff7 was my firsr rpg. i called my friend and said why the hell i gotta wait to attack someone lol. this game is very very sentimental to me. tears of joy.
Yeah, I also believe things will end up the same, but the road to get there will be different.
Maybe the ‘missing’ cauldron is to hint at the inconsistencies in Cloud’s story?
I have zero faith in square ,they havent given me any evidence they can handle a story involving multiple timelines ,and focus on characters and it not be convoluted BS post Sakaguchi ..
This would be a tough undertaking even with Sakaguchi in charge
You're going to wish they'd taken that easy slam dunk. Familiarize yourself with Kingdom Hearts. That's what you're getting because its all he knows how to do.
3:00 I don't think these things are mutually exclusive. looking up and theorising about what is coming when the wait is going to be YEARS isn't "not trusting the developers". especially when the whole point seems to be to cover the future in a fog of uncertainty. to do that - to make fans relive the original, they have to make us doubt the vision. will they "kill her" or can we save her?
all that is necessary for the pain to be as vivid as it was originally. are they going to do that? I DON'T KNOW!! and that's why it will have an impact.
they probably will fake us out even. we might not get that scene in Rebirth ... but we might. and that makes this not just another run of FF7 modded with better graphics and maybe a gameplay addition.
My guess is that *that scene* will be in some way, shape or form averted in Rebirth (I have no idea exactly *how* it will be averted, just that it's not going to play out exactly the same way), just to give the player even more of a feel that yes, that person lives now... for now, and quite possibly at a great cost. The basic reasoning being that after the end of Remake, it would be really silly to have everything play out virtually identically anyway, because then what was the point of all of that? Either way, I think that that person will die later on anyway, presumably somewhere in Part 3, when the party learns more about what is going on and are trying to fix everything.
Yeah, I don't know what they're planning, but it's what I like about the idea of "The world will be saved, but will you?" At the end of Remake, it's easy to walk away with the impression that the game was pulling punches a little, deaths have no consequence, etc. But that line really feels like there is a "great cost" in exchange and it's great to see.
Honestly. Had a nice sit down with an AI...and with all the same emotional stand point, the same beat for beat of it all...
It wrote out, what, I'd probably say...is unique...in it's own way, honestly.
AI (ChatGTP 4.0): "FF7 Rebirth Is The Ultimate LEAP Of Faith - an intriguing title that holds profound weight. As fans, we've journeyed with Cloud and the gang through the streets of Midgar in the original, feeling every emotion, every challenge, and every victory. With the 'Remake', we revisited those familiar streets, but with new twists, turns, and revelations. Now, as we stand on the precipice of 'Rebirth', we're not just taking a leap of faith with the narrative, but also entrusting our cherished memories to its evolution. It's a dance between nostalgia and novelty. The name 'Rebirth' itself suggests a renaissance, a new beginning emerging from the ashes of the old. And as with any leap of faith, there's both excitement and trepidation. Will it uphold the legacy of the original? Will it redefine our understanding of the story? Only time will tell. But one thing is certain - this journey, this 'Rebirth', is a testament to the timeless allure of FF7, and our collective hope for a story that, while changed, still resonates with the heartbeats of its loyal fans."
Honestly? I'll agree with it, overall. And, my quote, after that...well...it just sits with me alongside what the AI had to say as well.
"It's not the 'why' of it anymore, but the 'how' of it. The Change of things, always have an echo that stays on course of the same."
I got scared for a minute there. If the AI recreated my points from that prompt, I would’ve had an existential crisis over my humanity… not just theory crafting.
But honestly, what it came up with wasn’t bad 👀
And agreed on your last sentence.
@@SubTXT_ AI just copies words from scraped Data, it cannot think and has no opinions of its own. The reason it sounds so good is because of all the smart and creative fans that discuss and theorize!
Another amazin video as always!!
Thanks!
You are welcome!@@SubTXT_
That song at part 2 though must know what it is, final comments and thoughts when video has completed
Ha, it’s the rock version of the Happy Turtle song from the Yuffie DLC. ruclips.net/video/S7ioTqXJIQc/видео.htmlsi=lT0wb5wQILi5-Tne
Calling it here: Part 1 = Remake, Part 2 = Rebirth, *Part 3 = Reunion*
Reunion is already taken tho...
@@The_Crooked_Step Yeah I realize Crisis Core has it but it feels too strong of an option. My second best bet would be Remembrance since they used that word in the reveal trailer.
Yeah, Philip Hartshorn said on a recent stream that one of his ideas for the Part 3 title was "Remember" and I thought that played really nicely with the dev team's obsession with the idea of memories. Remembrance might be a bit more eloquent though haha.
Assuming that Cloud is narrating the flashback. The Rebirth Nibelheim scene where we get 'Cloud the Puppy" doesn't make sense. If Cloud is telling his side of the flashback towards the party, there is no reason he would tell it in a way where he behaves like Zack, with his personailty and mannerisms. Cloud would tell his side of the story with him behaving the way he has behaved throughout Midgar, where he has acted nothing like Zack.
I also disagree that this was their intent in the OG 1997 game, for Cloud to be acting as Zack, I struggle to see this as anything but a plot hole. Potentially this issue could be alleviated in Rebirth if the context of this scene is not Cloud narrating the past at Kalm, but something else entirely.
Anyways, this has been an issue ever since they retconned Zack's personality post OG. Solid video though, I just disagree with this point.
In the OG, the biggest hint of Cloud acting like Zack is from the squatting animation, which even Zack does in the back of the truck on the way to Midgar in the hidden scene you can access from the Nibelheim basement after getting Cloud’s mind back. So Cloud definitely portrayed himself physically as Zack in the OG. And he’s a lot more talkative and inquisitive to Sephiroth in a youthful and outgoing way, which was very unlike Cloud throughout the game. So it added up. I disagree that THAT element was retconned.
BUT I do have issues with the Rebirth flashback from what we’ve seen. The biggest being that I would prefer if we DID NOT play as Sephiroth because despite how cool he is and how much fans have been wanting it, it doesn’t make much sense coming from Cloud’s POV. Also, from the footage we’ve seen, Cloud and Sephiroth are at damn near the same power level. If they want to make Cloud Level 25 in the Flashback, that’s fine… but I think Sephiroth should be practically Level 99 and untouchable. He should feel broken, even if it makes the tutorial level too easy. But, it doesn’t seem they’re doing that unfortunately. It’s not a perfect remake, even if I’m really excited by a lot of the things they’re doing.
@@SubTXT_ The hidden scene was added for the international release in NA and Europe, the original Japanese release (which I personally consider to be the original text) didn't contain the hidden Nibelheim scene. So even as early as 1997 they were already messing with the continuity, but we might have to agree to disagree on this.
I definitely agree with your point of how we get to play as Sephiroth, I also do not like that he is playable and Cloud is closer in level, it takes away from the untouchable, mysterious presence he had in the original but this was also an issue in Remake part 1.
Still, I'm also excited for the rest of the Remake project, I still find it to be a really, really fun game, especially the combat system which is genius. Everything in Rebirth outside of my disagreements with the writing and story, are shaping it up to be my dream FF game in the modern era.
Cloud is an unreliable narrator. The devs will surely use that to their advantage to mess with the party members and also players.
@@SubTXT_Agreed on Sephiroth power level. But then again people WANT to play as him, people WANT Zack to live, people WANT Aerith to be saved. I fear the dev have created all those timelines to satisfy some kinda fan fiction wet dreams… We shall see
Cloud is the Master of his delusion.
Whatever is articulated in Cloud's mental state, is merely the experiences of other people from a third hand account.
Emotions cloud reason.
Kinda lame that they end remake saying everything is going change from here on out but then reveal rebirth is going to follow the OG game almost beat for beat
I think they're lying. Not 100% -- a lot of things will feel/end up the same -- but there's no shot it'll be exactly like the original. The very image of Zack carrying Cloud through Midgar proves that. They're just trying to throw us off the scent. The Last of Us 2 also had some infamous pre-release quotes and footage and when asked about it after the game came out, the devs said, "Sorry, but we lied. We just couldn't give that away."