Final Fantasy VII: The Unused Text – Part 1
Term Register and Article Map for newcomers:
The Final Fantasy VII Unused Text Series Index!
The Bombing Mission & The Train Ride
In 1996 a demo of FFVII was released with a fighting game called Tobal No.1. This demo plays an early version of the bombing of the first reactor and, by no surprise, ends up relevant for this article.
Before moving on to the Sector 7 Slums we will also see that the Mako Reactors in Midgar tell an interesting tale about part of the game’s development. After that we end with some exposition by, and about, Jessie of AVALANCHE.
LET’S MOSEY!
Reactor Train Station (MD1STIN)
| 神羅兵 | Shinra Soldier: | |
| “Who goes there!?” | 「なんだ、おまえたちは！」 | Who goes there?! |
| “C’mon newcomer. | 「行くぞ、新入り |
| Follow me.” | オレに続け！」 |
Before even the first line used in the game there is this unused shout by one of the guards at the station. This is one of many cases where the Japanese script writes out a name for a character while the English does not.
Notice on the right side of the map rip above the “Shin” part of the Shinra logo can be read, which is not visible in-game because the field image is positioned in such a way that its corners are cut. How ironic to find an unseen symbol on the very first field we investigate.
End of Demo Play (MD1_1)
| デモプレイはここまでです。 | Demo play ends here. |
| １２月の発売をお楽しみに！ | Look forward to the December release! |
The released official demo only lasts from the start of the game to the reactor explosion. At no time, however, is this message shown to the player on the field. It might have existed for an early public demonstration of the game, such as in the V-Jump Festival of 1996. The message might also simply be a placeholder from before they decided to include the text that dramatically appears after the FMV sequence with the reactor exploding. See below:
At the time of writing, the demo script is yet to be ripped, so it is still unknown if this text piece exists there as well, in an unused state. Thus far, the “Demo play ends here” message has only been found in a duplicate group in the first Japanese release. The reason I connect it to MD1_1 is because this text entry was later replaced by Barret’s quick tutorial on how to run by pressing X and the directional buttons. In JORG Barret did not have this fourth-wall-breaking dialogue.
As an extra note, a slightly altered duplicate version of Barret’s tutorial exists in the JINT script. The only difference is a lack of brackets around the “press the directional buttons” instruction.
Unknown Field
| {Barret} | BARRET |
| “Now let’s go into the reactor! | 「さあ、魔晄炉（まこうろ）の中へ！ |
| From here on out, you stick with me.” | ここからはオレのそばに |
| いてもらうぜ」 |
| “Leave this to me!” | 「ここはまかせとき！」 |
| “Don’t mess up SOLDIER-boy!” | 「たのんだぜソルジャーさんよ！」 |
| “Bring {Barret} back alive!” | 「BARRETをよろしくな！」 |
Intended to be spoken before entering the reactor’s interior, Barret’s “From here on out, you stick with me,” sounds like it excludes the presence of the similar line that he speaks on the first map of the reactor’s interior after his talk with Cloud. In addition, all three lines from the other AVALANCHE members lack names. In the final game their names are always given.
Elevator (ELEVTR1)
| {Cloud} | CLOUD |
| “The only thing I care about is finishin’ this job | 「俺が考えてるのは、さっさと仕事を |
| before security and the Roboguards come.” | 終わらせたいってことだけだ。 |
| 警備兵やガードロボットが来ないうちにな」 |
| {Barret} | BARRET |
| “…” | 「…………」 |
Although duplicates and meaningless empty text entries are omitted for these articles, all other dialogue bits, such as this one where Barret’s anger towards Cloud is expressed with silence, are included.
Shared Location Names, FMV, and Materia of Reactors 1 & 5
Much evidence exists that at one point in development the maps from the No. 1 Reactor that were used in the first mission in the game were intended for reuse in the No. 5 Reactor where the second bombing mission takes place.
Except for the first interior area, all maps of the first reactor’s interior will change their location name from “No.1 Reactor” to “No.5 Reactor” if you roam them after the explosion occurs at PPV = 27. In addition, no random encounters can occur during this time. This leads me to believe that a different set of encounters was planned for when the No. 1 Reactor turned into No. 5. The apparent lack of Reactor 1 stuff in the Reactor 5 is also indicative of this.
Does the same hold true for the No. 5 Reactor? Unfortunately, only one of its maps, SMKIN_4 (the field with the save point), will change its name from “No.5 Reactor” to “No.1 Reactor” when PPV < 27 (before the explosion). However, there is no change in the random encounters.
SMKIN_4 also contains data for displaying the countdown timer to the reactor explosion. The explosion FMV will be triggered in both SMKIN_4 and SMKIN_5 (the area where you set the bomb) when the timer reaches 00:00, but only SMKIN_4 can display the timer. Setting PPV to 27 when in either of these maps will trigger the FMV too, of course.
Identical to the No. 1 Reactor (NMKIN_5), the Restore Materia found on the bridge in the No. 5 Reactor (SMKIN_5) if PPV < 15.
Perhaps most intriguingly, NMKIN_5 (the first reactor) contains a scene that normally occurs in SMKIN_5! Enter the field when the PPV ≧ 111 but below 120. Tifa and Barret will split from Cloud and the screen will take on a red hue while a high-pitched ringing noise is heard, just like the scene in SMKIN_5.
If you are playing the English version, the game will freeze here because it lacks the data for jumping to the Nibelheim flashback.
However in both Japanese releases the jump exists! This difference is so tiny and irrelevant to the used part of the game that there’s really no good reason for it to exist at all.
Naturally, if you jump to the Nibelheim flashback, the end of that scene will transport you to SMKIN_5, Reactor #5, unless you’ve modded the game or you’re using cheat codes in order to return to Reactor #1 to see the scene unfold there.
In the case of the English game you either simply return here to NMKIN_5 when PPV = 120 or you mod back the jump to the Nibelheim reactor in order to watch the rest of this duplicate scene.
| {Barret} | BARRET | Barret: |
| “Damn man‚get a hold of yourself!” | 「おい、しっかりしてくれよ！」 | Oi, please hang in there! |
| {Tifa} | TIFA |
| “You all right?” | 「だいじょうぶ？」 |
| {Cloud} | CLOUD |
| “…{Tifa}.” | 「……TIFA」 |
| {Tifa} | TIFA |
| “Mmm?” | 「ん？」 |
| {Cloud} | CLOUD | Cloud: |
| “No…forget… | 「い……いや…… | N… no… |
| Come on‚let’s hurry!” | 気にするな。 | Don’t worry about it. |
| さあ、急ごう！」 |
Come on, let’s hurry! |
The player gets control over Cloud and can talk to Barret or Tifa.
| {Cloud} | CLOUD | Cloud: |
| “I know. | 「わかってるさ。 | I get it. |
| You’re my chaperon‚right?” | あんたは俺の見張りだろ？」 | You’re my lookout, right? |
| {Barret} | BARRET |
| “Damn straight.” | 「そういうことだ」 |
| {Barret} | BARRET | Barret: |
| “{Tifa}’s old friend… | 「TIFA の幼なじみ…… | Tifa’s old friend… |
| That ain’t good enough.” | それだけじゃ不安なんでな」 | That’s not enough to stop me from worryin’. |
Tifa has to be approached before she walks too far off.
| {Tifa} | TIFA |
| “Let’s hurry‚{Cloud}.” | 「急ぎましょう、CLOUD」 |
Cloud will set the bomb in NMKIN_5 just as he does in SMKIN_5 if the player follows Tifa.
| {Barret} | BARRET |
| “Alright, let’s go.” | 「よし、行くぞ」 |
The dialogue from when Cloud sets the bomb in the first reactor and escapes is also unlockable in the SMKIN_5 map, but the scene has no trigger.
Finally, the lower 12 o’clock debug room relates back to this early design plan, as the option to teleport yourself to the first reactor is also marked in parantheses as “5reactor”. Choosing this option leads you the save point field of reactor #1.
It is very possible that when the designers were moving from one set of reactor maps to two sets they got confused as to which map belonged to which reactor. This may explain the appearance of the file name SMKIN_3 spelled in Greek letters in the NMKIN_3 map. On his blog, The Face of the Moon, Robert Seddon analyzed this oddity.
Escaping From the Reactor
Numerous maps involved here except for the immediate dialogue below that belongs in NMKIN_5 and SMKIN_5.
| {Cloud} | CLOUD |
| “This is… | 「これは…… |
| Materia…” | マテリア……」 |
Cloud never reacts to spotting the Materia in either NMKIN_5 or SMKIN_5.
| {Barret} | BARRET |
| “Heads up, here they come!” | 「本格的にやってくるぜ」 |
| {Cloud} | CLOUD | Cloud: |
| “The alarm!” | 「警報か？」 | The alarm? |
| {Cloud} | CLOUD |
| “Come on, let’s get outta here!” | 「さあ、脱出だ」 |
Cloud’s line about the alarm was probably intended for after the battle with Guard Scorpion.
People scrolling through each text ID via script editors will find an empty (but still unlockable) entry in the reactor #1 fields. This text window actually surrounds the timer. It is invisible with no borders and does not disappear by clicking the OK button. In visible form we find that the text window is a bit needlessly huge.
Moving on to an earlier version of the timer…
| Ten minutes to detonation! | 爆発 １０ 分前 |
| Two minutes remaining | 残り ２ 分 |
| One minute remaining | 残り １ 分 |
| Thirty seconds remaining | 残り ３０ 秒 |
| Ten seconds remaining | 残り １０ 秒 |
| Five seconds remaining | 残り ５ 秒 |
| Four seconds remaining | 残り ４ 秒 |
| Three seconds remaining | 残り ３ 秒 |
| Two seconds remaining | 残り ２ 秒 |
| One second remaining | 残り １ 秒 |
Before there was a timer in the upper left corner of the screen the only indication of the remaining time until the explosion were these text windows. Players of the 1996 Tobal demo would see these dialogue boxes rather than an actual timer. Notably, the demo version sees the countdown stop during battle, unlike in the final game where it is always counting.
The demo gives you three minutes to escape the reactor rather than ten minutes. The “Three minutes to detonation”, text entry was probably edited into the used “Ten minutes to detonation” text window.
| Biggs | ビッグス |
| “I only let my guard down for a minute… | 「敵に後ろをとられて…… |
| And someone got behind me…” | 油断しちまった」 |
In the demo Biggs had to be saved in addition to Jessie if you were to escape the reactor. Biggs’ dialogue remains in the field script but his field model has been completely removed from this map. Just like with Jessie Cloud will ask Biggs if he is alright, but that text entry is locked here in the final game.
In the demo, approaching any of the locked doors without having rescued the required character yielded either of these text boxes. This detail is removed in the final game, though the script remains.
| Can’t decipher code | ビッグスがいないと |
| without Biggs | コード解除できない |
| Can’t decipher code | ジェシーがいないと |
| without Jessie | コード解除できない |
Collapsed Room After Escape (MD8_4)
Location Name
| Sector 8 | ８番街 |
Access to the menu is disabled here. Opening the menu would show the location name as “No. 1 Reactor”.
Alley Where You Meet the Flower Girl (MD8_2)
Location Name
| Sector 8 | ８番街 |
This unused location name will not be noticed by the player as the field before it is called “Sector 8”, meaning with no unlockable location text the map adopts this name anyway.
| “What an explosion!” | 「しっかし、スゲェ爆発だったな」 |
| “Think it’s another Mako reactor accident?” | 「ああ、また魔晄炉の事故じゃねぇのか？」 |
An early hint from the NPC of other reactor incidents.
Sector 8 Square (MD8_3)
Location Name
| Sector 8 | ８番街 |
| A paper hung on the wall | 「何か壁に書いてあるな？ | Something’s written on the wall? |
| なに、なに…」 |
What could it be… | |
| 『神羅にだまされるな！ | Don’t be fooled by Shinra! | |
| 魔晄エネルギーは永遠ではない！ | Mako energy doesn’t last forever! | |
| 魔晄は星の命！ | Mako is the Planet’s life source! | |
| いつか終わりがやってくる！ |
The end is in sight! | |
| 星の救世主：アバランチ』 | Protectors of the Planet: AVALANCHE |
This text box is, in fact, just a partially translated duplicate of a line triggered by talking to one of the NPCs.
| “Wonder what that is on the wall over there. |
| Let’s see…” |
| Don’t be fooled by Shinra! |
| Mako energy doesn’t last forever! |
| Mako is the Planet’s life source! |
| The end is in sight! |
| Protectors of the Planet: AVALANCHE |
Facing the SS (MD8BRDG)
| {Cloud} | CLOUD |
| “What a pain…” | 「めんどうだな…」 |
Triggering a flag, plus changing a byte jump, will trigger this line by Cloud after the first instance of choosing to run away from the soldiers.
Train Cargo Room (CARGOIN)
This room contains some unused interaction between Cloud and Jessie as well as a strange debug event.
| Jessie | ジェシー |
| “Say, thanks for helping me | 「ね、魔晄炉で助けてくれて |
| back there at the reactor!” | ありがとう！」 |
| {Cloud} | CLOUD |
| “Yeah…” | 「ああ……」 |
| A: That’s OK | A: 気にするな |
| B: Quit thanking me | B: 礼なんかやめてくれ |
| A: | {Cloud} | CLOUD | Cloud: |
|---|---|---|---|
| “Don’t mention it. | 「気にするな。 | Don’t mention it. | |
| 当然のことをしたまでさ」 | I just did the natural thing. |
| B: | {Cloud} | CLOUD |
|---|---|---|
| “It bugs me when you thank me. | 「感謝などされても困る。 | |
| It’s just a part of my job.” | これも仕事のうちだからな」 |
| A: | Jessie | ジェシー |
|---|---|---|
| “But, I… | 「でも、私…… | |
| I was just glad…” | ほんとにうれしかったから…」 |
| B: | Jessie | ジェシー |
|---|---|---|
| “{Cloud}……” | 「CLOUD……」 |
|
| “You’re right. | 「そうだね、私たち | |
| We’re just partners.” | ただの仕事仲間ね…」 |
In the normal scene Jessie leaves the field after her used dialogue. To see these, anyone modding the game would have to prevent her from leaving and flag her responses to Cloud.
The 3 o’clock Debug Room Scene
From the debug room lobby, enter the room to the east (3 o’clock). In there, talk to the Shinra commander and select “Cargo”. You must enter this field sometime after both Tifa and Barret have joined your party in Seventh Heaven (PPV ≧ 108) for this scene to occur. Technically, this scene should be reviewed in a later article, but given as we’re already in the room…
| {Cloud} | CLOUD |
| It’s not ready yet… | 「まだできてないんだ… |
| Whoa!! | ウオオ…！！」 |
The eerie soundtrack “Who Are You?” is playing. Cloud runs from the far end of the cargo area towards the player, stops, holds his head, and shakes while the screen takes on a red tone.
While on his knees Cloud continues to writhe, then he sits back and the screen goes black. The player has no control over Cloud.
Cloud’s line sounds more like a programmer’s note, with the developers jokingly using Cloud’s mental instability in this part of the game to set the stage for this vague reference to something in the debugging process.
But whatever is this thing that is not ready yet? In all honesty, it could be anything. The unlocked debug text below is a good candidate; that which is not ready yet might simply be the debugging events.
| 「とりあえず、チェックしとく？」 | Will you go and check? | |
| ☞ 列車到着へ！！ | ☞ To the train arrival!! | |
| ☞ 南魔晄炉破壊作戦へ | ☞ To the South Mako Reactor destruction operation | |
| ☞ ぬけちゃう！ | ☞ Exit! |
The exact sections of the game these options were meant to take you to can’t be discerned via the text alone, but unfortunately the text is all we have.
| Shut-off the switch in this position. | 「このまま、スイッチをお切りください」 | Shut-off the switch like this, please. |
What switch is the game talking about? Here is one possible answer. If you roam this map freely when PPV ≧ 108 you will notice that you can’t jump to the next field. The switch might be the room’s exit that has been disabled.
| We can escape from the train event… | 「列車イベントをぬけるのだが……」 |
| ☞Did it!! | ☞ 大成功！！ |
| ☞4th failure | ☞ 失敗４回目 |
| ☞3rd failure | ☞ 失敗３回目 |
| ☞2nd failure | ☞ 失敗２回目 |
| ☞1st failure | ☞ 失敗１回目 |
| ☞Escaped | ☞ ぬけちゃう！ |
The train event referred to can only be the one when the ID sensor alarm activates on your way to the No. 5 Reactor and you must run from carriage to carriage to outrun the door lock timers. If the timer reaches zero, then the doors will be locked and the player is forced to jump off the train prematurely. The shorter your progress the further from your destination you will end up when jumping off the train.
The four scenarios that count as failures correspond to any of the four instances where you might be sealed off from the next train section because you fail the time trial. “Did it!!” must represent reaching the final section of the train and having outrun all the door lock timers. “Escaped” is more ambiguous in its meaning. Once you’ve escaped and end up in the winding tunnels there are three possible scenes depending on how many carriages you ran through. A single “Escaped” option does not fit with these multiple scenarios.
Train Carriage (TIN_1)
We start with some locked NPC dialogue by the train passengers. By the look of it the carriage was meant to be crowded with more NPCs.
| “Hey!! | 「おい！！ |
| What’s going on here?” | こら……！！」 |
| “Oops, uh, | 「あ、いえ |
| n, nothing…” | なんでもないです…」 |
| “Please don’t make any trouble.” | 「騒ぎはおこさないで |
| くださいよぅ」 |
Sounds like a train employee. Possibly a Shinra guard.
| “…mumble…grumble… | 「ブツブツ…… |
| (…Reactor’s blown to bits… | （はあ、悪いことは続くもんだ。 |
| …Bad things one after another… | 今夜は魔晄炉事故のダイヤの乱れで |
| …What a day!)” | 大変な一日だったのに）」 |
The mumbling mirrors dialogue later spoken by the Shinra Manager
so we can assume that this dialogue belongs to him.
| 「こ、こわいかい？ | A, are you scared? | |
| 大丈夫だよ、ぼ、僕が君を守ってやる。 | It’s alright, I, I’ll protect you. | |
| （まいったなあ…こしぬけちゃったよ）」 | (I give up.. I’m a coward.) |
| 「（たのむ。あっちいって） | (Please go away!) | |
| きっと、いい人たちだよ。 | I’m sure you’re good people. | |
| し、心配ないよ…たぶん」 | I, I’m not worried… honest. |
| 「キャッ！！ | Eek!! | |
| どうしましょう…。 | What do I do… | |
| どうしましょう……」 |
What do I do… | |
| （ちょっとしたスリルだわ。 | (It’s a little thrilling, | |
| このビリビリな緊張感…。 | this electrifying nervousness… | |
| さっきの爆発事故より恐怖ね）」 | It’s even scarier than that explosion!) |
| 「キャッ！！ | Eek!! | |
| どうしましょう…。 | What do I do… | |
| どうしましょう……」 |
What do I do… | |
| 「（あ、いんねんをつけられてるのかしら。 | (I wonder if he’s picking a fight. | |
| からまれているのかしら……？）」 | Am I involved…?) |
When entering the passenger carriage we see two red-haired passengers leaving the train. The same NPCs are later seen outside the train station and their dialogue reveals that they are a couple. The contrasting masculine and feminine lines above fit with a supposed presence of these two. Fortunately, thanks to a promo video released by Square Enix, we can confirm that in an earlier development phase, the couple remained at their seats when the main characters arrived. In this scenario is where the unused lines above belong.
Click here to view the 6-minute FFVII promo video; red-haired couple at the 02:04 mark
| 「ごめんよ……ちょっと気分が…」 |
Sorry… I feel a little… | |
| 「変なもん食ったからなあ。 | I must have eaten something weird. | |
| あのミッドガル名物のプレートピザ…」 | That famous Midgar plate pizza… |
Impossible to determine which NPC this was intended for.
| “To the Route Map Screen” | 『ルートマップ画面へ』 |
A developer’s note to indicate the jump to the train map Jessie shows Cloud.
The Japanese text is scripted to alternate between white and grey; an action which is not used elsewhere in the entire field script.
Route Map Screen (ROOTMAP)
Location Name
| Last Train from Midgar | 路線図 |
Same location name as previous field.
| Jessie | ジェシー |
| “{Cloud}! | 「さ、CLOUD！ |
| Look over here.” | こっちむいて」 |
| Jessie | ジェシー |
| “Okay, it’s about to start.” | 「さ、はじめるわよ」 |
The ROOTMAP Exclusive Cloud & Jessie Models
It is time to divert attention from the unused text and dissect the graphical curiosities of this field. The more detailed models of Cloud and Jessie, seen above, are not fanmade but are actually the default models used by ROOTMAP, except that this truth escapes you in a normal playthrough because both characters are positioned too low. When implementing Jessie’s line “Cloud! Look this way!” the game will simultaneously lift her up, albeit we still don’t get a full body view. Cloud has a similar function, not related to any dialogue, that positions him higher and has him turn his face to Jessie, in the manner seen above.
Jessie’s face is never visible in this scene, nor does she have any unused command to turn around, but by modding the game to make her turn we can see her face.
What do their full models look like? Makou Reactor has a limited field model viewer for the PC version which lets us know. It can show all the field models’ animations, but the models are projected down to 2D. With images from Makou Reactor we shall take a further look at Jessie and Cloud.
Normal Jessie.
ROOTMAP Jessie.
It turns out that only Jessie’s torso and head have been modeled. Even so, it shows different detail from her standard model. Normally you’d see a black circle on the face of default-Jessie, as these have been pasted on to the field models in the PC version, but for this image I removed that detail.
Now, Cloud’s model is more complete.
Normal Cloud.
ROOTMAP Cloud.
His walking animation though is a thing of twisted comedy. Cloud’s right leg points through his stomach, then phases through his head and back again, all the while his left leg is walking normally except that his foot has turned ninety degrees.
Why do these field models exist? There are no others like these, at least in the PC version. Because ROOTMAP contains the unused action to make more than just the back of Jessie’s and Cloud’s heads visible, it is clear that at one point the developers intended to let the players see these models. Perhaps it was a test to see if it was feasible to have two variations of the field characters; using more detailed models, even when not dealing with the full motion videos (FMVs), would have brought the player even closer to that cinematic experience that Squaresoft was aiming for when they created Final Fantasy VII.
Ultimately, it is understandable why this idea was scrapped. Planning and deciding early on which fields were to use which variation of the field models would have taken time, especially when scenes and scripts were still being edited and moved around. This would have made it difficult to predict just how many characters needed an upgrade-version.
What would be interesting to know is whether the idea of alternate field models was ever brought up in a meeting between the field planners or if what we’ve just seen is simply the result of two or three staff members playing with an idea for a few hours.
It is time to resume this article’s namesake and look at the remainder of the unused text in this field.
The following unused text is placed after Jessie’s comments on the structure of Midgar and before her description of the train route and the ID sensor system. Only Cloud has a few unlockable lines which, just like the locked text, were not translated in the English game.
| ジェシー | Jessie: | |
| 「ね、 |
Hey, Cloud! | |
| 「聞いてる？」 | Are you listening? | |
| A: ああ…… | A: Yeah… | |
| B: 聞いてない | B: No. |
| A: | CLOUD | Cloud: | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 「なるほど……」 |
I see… | ||
| 「ずいぶん | It’s pretty | ||
| くわしいんだな」 | complicated, huh. |
| B: | CLOUD | Cloud: | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 「聞いてなかった…」 |
I wasn’t listening… | ||
| 「もういちど | Let me hear it | ||
| 聞かせてくれ」 | one more time. |
| B: | ジェシー | Jessie: | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 「え！……うん」 |
What! …OK. | ||
| 「あのね、アバランチの規律があって | According to AVALANCHE’s rules we have | ||
| いろいろ暗記させられるわけ。 | to memorize a lot of things by heart. | ||
| いちおう、大義名分ってやつなのよ」 |
Anyway, it’s for a good cause. | ||
| 「 |
Barret often talks about difficult subjects. | ||
| 魔晄の本質とかなんとか…」 |
The true nature of Mako, for example… | ||
| 「ああいうのもね、暗記したのがついね | The things we memorize | ||
| でちゃうのよ」 | just pop out sometimes. |
| A: | ジェシー | Jessie: | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 「はいはい。 | You got it. | ||
| まっかせといて」 | Leave it to me! |
| 「いい？ |
Ready? | |
| 「魔晄都市ミッドガルは | The Mako city Midgar is a man-made | |
| 地上から約５０Ｍの高さに | city constructed 50 meters | |
| 建設された人工都市なの」 | above the planet’s surface. |
| 「最高水準の技術の結晶。 |
A crystallization of the highest technology. | |
| 人間の知と力のしょうちょうね。 | A symbol of humanity’s power and wisdom. | |
| このミッドガルは…」 | That’s what Midgar is… |
| 「考えてみると、あらためてすごいよね。 | Shinra’s technology is amazing | |
| 神羅の技術って」 | when you think about it. |
| CLOUD | Cloud: | |
| 「神羅か……」 | Shinra, huh… | |
| ☞神羅について聞かせてくれ | ☞Let me hear about Shinra. | |
| ☞興味ないな | ☞Not interested. |
| ジェシー | Jessie: | |
| 「え？ CLOUD | Huh? Cloud, | |
| 私よりくわしいんじゃない？」 | don’t you know more than me? |
| CLOUD | Cloud: | |
| 「昔のことなんか覚えちゃいない。 | It was a long time ago. | |
| 俺は本社勤務じゃなかったしな」 | I didn’t work at headquarters or anything. |
| ジェシー | Jessie: | |
| 「はいはい」 |
OK then. | |
| 「神羅カンパニー…… | Shinra Company… | |
| 私たち、アバランチの目下の敵」 |
They’re the current enemy of AVALANCHE. | |
| 「この列車も、この街も | A giant corporation with this train, | |
| もちろん魔晄炉も…」 |
this city, the Mako reactors, of course… | |
| 「さいふからせいふまで | everything from our wallets to | |
| すべてをしょうあくする巨大企業」 | the government in its grasp. |
| 「神羅カンパニーのトップは | At the top of the Shinra company is | |
| プレジデント神羅という人物よ」 |
a man called President Shinra. | |
| 「魔晄炉建設を積極的におしすすめて | He actively pushed forward the construction of the Mako Reactors | |
| いまの神羅の地位をきずいたの」 | and was instrumental in helping Shinra get where it is today. |
| 「私たち、無謀な戦いを挑んでるの。 | We’re fighting a reckless battle. | |
| 勝てるのかしら……」 | I wonder if we can win… |
| ジェシー | Jessie: | |
| 「はいはい」 | Well, there you have it. |
This text would have been the earliest mention of President Shinra in the game script. After this comes Jessie’s used comments on the train’s ID sensor system, where the scene normally ends, but here is the unused script that follows after.
| 「私たち、スラムの住人が | For those of us who live in the slums | |
| ミッドガルに上るには、この列車に乗るしかないの」 | the train is the only way to get up to Midgar. |
| 「スラムの街からミッドガルへ…… | From the slum towns to Midgar… | |
| なにもかも管理されたこの列車で | A variety of items are transported | |
| いろんなものが運ばれていくの」 | by this train that controls everything. |
| 「それにね、この列車に乗ってるとわかるの」 |
Anyway, riding this train makes you realize something. | |
| 「上の街が吸い取っていくのは | Those things aren’t all the city | |
| それだけじゃない」 |
above sucks up. | |
| 「やさしい気持ち… |
Kind feelings… | |
| ふわっとあたたかい心。 |
Warm, light hearts… | |
| だんだんなくなっていくの…」 |
They’re gradually disappearing… |
| 「そういうのって、やだな。 | I won’t let that happen. | |
| だから、私、アバランチに入ったんだ」 | That’s why I joined AVALANCHE. |
| 「ごめんね、話、長くなっちゃったね。 | I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to talk for so long. | |
| でも、 |
I just wanted you to know | |
| 知ってほしくて」 |
the reason I’m fighting. | |
| 「私、ただの爆弾女と思われるのって | I didn’t want you to think I was | |
| いやなのよ」 | just a girl who’s bomb-crazy. |
In the final game we never hear Jessie’s motivations for joining AVALANCHE. Given her dialogue about how the train controls and defines the social hierarchy of Midgar her line about happiness fading away sounds like a reference to the people of the slums. One becomes curious as to what in Jessie’s background makes her passionate enough to join AVALANCHE, but unfortunately the game doesn’t tell.
| 自主規制 | Voluntary Restraint |
“Voluntary Restraint” might be a play on the real life trade term “Voluntary Export Restraint”. The note fits thematically with Jessie’s dialogue about how the train controls the transport of goods and it might have been left here to remind the writers of the intended theme.
A darker and more likely possibility presents itself though. The Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, committed by a cult on March 20 1995, killed thirteen people and injured many more. At the time of the game’s development in 1996 this tragedy was still in the public consciousness. The developers may have added the “Voluntary Restraint” note when they were still pondering whether Jessie’s talk about the motivations for her terrorist activities, while on a train no less, would offend those affected by the Subway Sarin Incident.
As the final game proves, they chose to go with self-censorship in this case.
The field also contains unused data for initiating the FMV of the train following the spiral route and a subsequent transition to the train station in Sector 7, MDS7ST3. It seems that in this scenario players never jumped back to TIN_1 to see the ID sensor system activated. This order of events might not even have included Barret’s and Cloud’s conversation about why the slum people simply don’t move to the upper plate.
Train Carriage (TIN_1)
| {Barret} | BARRET |
| “The upper world…a city on a plate…” | 「上の世界……プレート都市……」 |
| “It’s ‘cuz of that &^#$# ‘pizza’ | 「あのくさったピザのせいで |
| that people underneath are sufferin’!” | 下の人間がどんなに |
| 苦しんでることか……」 |
| {Barret} | BARRET |
| “All the pollution from Mako energy above | 「上の世界で汚された魔晄エネルギーが |
| falls down on the world below.” | 下の世界に降りてくる」 |
| {Barret} | BARRET |
| “And the city below is full of polluted air.” | 「下の世界は今じゃあ |
| 汚された空気のたまり場だ」 |
Barret’s unused line tells us that pollution comes from the Mako energy though the type of waste is not specified.
Here ends Part 1. Continue the journey in Part 2 – The Sector 7 Slums!
