Do you like the Compilation?

[Sen Jenko]

Hello! How are you? That's good. Good, good. How's the wife? Sorry to hear it.

I know there's a whole forum for The Compilation of FFVII but I wanted to ask fans of the original. Do you enjoy the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII?

I have very mixed feelings about the Compilation over all. I remember being a young teen and being so hyped for Advent Children. They were making a sequel to my favorite game!!! And it's a... movie. Okay then. Hype was still there. It finally came out and I was READY. I ordered it on my tv and watched it three times and...

It was alright. I really didn't enjoy how the characterized Cloud. Where was the awkward mentally ill dorky swordsman I know and love? This guys just... sad! I still have mixed feelings about this one. I also felt like the world didn't feel like the world from FF7, if that makes sense.

Now, Dirge of Cerberus. Again, so hyped when I found out. Vincent was never my favorite character bit he was cool. And they were making another sequel to FFVII! And this time IT WAS ACTUALLY A GAME!!!! Hype level 5000000. And then it came out.

I fucking hated this game. So. Much. Semi common opinion, I know. This game did NOT scratch my itch for a sequel to FFVII. The feeling of the world was even worse than Advent Children. No variety, everything was brown and sad. I wish they made a Barret game instead. Shoot down people coming to steal your precious oil

For a while I figured FFVII was on a bad path. I eventually got a PSP for Metal Gear Solid Peacewalker (Great but difficult game). And then my at the time girlfriend, who knew I loved FFVII immensely, sent me Crisis Core for my birthday.

I was wary. I've been burned twice now, would I really open my heart again?

Of course I did.

And I'm so happy I did. I love this game. I loved the focus on Zack and how it acted as a prequel to the OG game. I LOVED the music. The battle system was fun if not dull after a while. There were a lot of scenes that made me cringe from the pure anime of it all. But those final few cutscenes man. I don't care, they made it all worth it for me. I also loved how the world actually felt like the same world as FFVII! They finally did it!!!!

I have never played Before Crisis but I would have probably hated it by virtue of having to use a phone to play it.

Anyway, those are my feelings on the compilation. How about you? Did you love it? Hate it? Was it just meh? Were you like me and likes bits and pieces but not the overall package? I'm ready interested to know and am looking forward to your replies!

 

[Ghost X]

Do you enjoy the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII?

There's good n' bad. I haven't paid much attention to most of it, except the fancy action FMVs, and I do have vague awareness of significant story details, as opposed to the encyclopaedic knowledge of some folks about .

What I'm disappointed in most about Advent Children is the writing and cinematography. The FF games have some good stories, yet SE's writers can't manage to compress it down into a good film. There was at least a couple of impressive action scenes in it, but these days, they aren't as impressive in my view. I particularly liked the motorcycle fight scene in Midgar. I think the Sephiroth fight was a visual mess. There was also what seemed to be the Matrix-inspired outfits. I didn't mind Cloud's new getup and his motorcycle, and I thought the remnants were well-designed. It was one of those things where the pre-release fan theories were better than the product .

Before Crisis I haven't seen much of. All I know is there's some weird origin to Avalanche, Zirconiade, some interesting character designs and concept art.

DoC's gameplay never appealed to me, but they tried to do something different, and I can't fault them for that. I didn't mind the character designs, and the idea of some super secret group in Deepground, and seeing a little of what the future was like for the FFVII world. Favourite bit was probably the FMVs, and the cliffhanger ending.

Crisis Core gameplay didn't appeal to me, although I've heard people liking it. Genesis is cringe, and so I choose to imagine him as a less cringe person in my headcanon . Favourite bit is the FMV battle on the Junon cannon, and Sephiroth's theme in this game "The world's enemy". I think it captures more of the majesty, for lack of better term, of the One-Winged Angel theme in the OG, as I imagine it in my head at least. Haven't been a fan of the metal interpretations of it.

Apparently not included in the compilation, but often associated with it, I've seen Last Order also, and wish they hadn't changed some of the OG details, but I'm not against it either. It's the nature of re-imaginings.

 

[Sen Jenko]

Genesis is cringe

Bro you can't just go around shooting off facts like you would a loaded gun.

I really enjoyed reading all of your opinions on the Compilation, but that in particular gave me a good laugh. It's funny because it's true.

 

[Rydeen]

I am warm to the compilation, probably because I started with AC, back in '06 when I was 12, so everything is equally (extremely) nostalgic to me, blue palette and all. But there are a couple of things I don't like, such as most of the CC characters. And I will admit that the plot of AC could have been better, but I appreciate it for what it was. My favorite part of the compilation is actually the novellas - I think Nojima is my favorite person on the team and his vision aligns well with mine.

 

[Sen Jenko]

I am warm to the compilation, probably because I started with AC, back in '06 when I was 12, so everything is equally (extremely) nostalgic to me, blue palette and all. But there are a couple of things I don't like, such as most of the CC characters. And I will admit that the plot of AC could have been better, but I appreciate it for what it was. My favorite part of the compilation is actually the novellas - I think Nojima is my favorite person on the team and his vision aligns well with mine.

The Novellas? Heh, check it out guys we got a reader over here! Think you're better'n me, college boy?

I'm obviously kidding, lol. But that's interesting, I've met a few people who really like the Novellas, and I like them a lot as well, but I don't think I've met anyone who claimed that Io be their favorite thing in FF7, haha.

Which one do you like the most?

 

[looneymoon]

No

 

[Sen Jenko]

No

Absolutely based

 

[Ite]

Absolutely based

Looney never pulls punches she is the GOAT.

I was one of those girls who took screenshots of the trailer for Advent Children and made them my Livejournal icons. I’ve been a victim of overhype for most of my life at this point.

While I do not care for the Comp or Remake, I will fight and die for other people’s right to enjoy them… and then I will tell them their opinion is trash here on these forums.

 

[LNK]

I love it all. While none of the compilation material is as good as ffvii, I still enjoy more content.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Love it.

Ultimately AC Complete is my favorite entry, with Crisis Core being my 2nd favorite Compilation entry.

That being said, I do love Dirge of Cerberus's setting and unique direction. Dirge has amazing ideas and concepts but sadly didn't see them through. It deserved far more for being a sequel game to FFVII on the PS2.

Nojima's writing in the On the Way to a Smile series and The Kids Are Alright are incredible and really the shining points of the AC era and character arcs of the characters. Nojima really knows what's up.

 

[Leafonthebreeze]

Yeah The Kids Are Alright absolutely blew me away, I was not expecting that level of character nuance from a tie in novella. From what we've seen in translation of Tale of Two Pasts, that's looking to be pretty amazing as well.

I played Crisis Core for the first time on an emulator during lockdown. I also found it charming but a bit too wacky and anime, until I realised how those aspects slowly drop away as the game progresses. That moment where the music in the Shinra building shifts from the more upbeat, neutral sound it's had all the way through the game into the classic Shinra building music from the OG is when I was sold on the game. I think it's amazing how it subtly shifts from a fun upbeat game about war buddies into a game about being trapped in a system you can't escape from as Zack slowly realises what he's a part of.

I also have a big soft spot for DoC because I played it after seeing AC but before playing OG... is that blasphemy?

 

[Eerie]

I think On the Way to a Smile novellas show their age, so to speak, as they were the first novellas Nojima ever wrote and... he lacked experience and that shows. For example in CoT we should have seen that happy Cloud the devs describe often but we're never shown him, because Nojima was too hyper focused on AC/C and the "I've to get there, somehow". As a result, fans are forced to fall back on the devs' words to understand that Cloud was happy because the novella fails in that aspect - and that's a pretty big fail considering we're talking about the hero's characterisation there. And honestly, we shouldn't have to. The novellas should be enough to understand it.

On the other hand, The Kids Are Alright and Traces of Two Pasts are brilliant, I adore them. I'm reading ToTP in FR right now (slowly because uh, too busy IRL) and it's simply a joy to read. I could tell how brilliant Tifa's characterisation is as we see her transition from kid to teen to young adult but ehhh that'd be too long.

But those two novellas sure made me crave a novella with Cloud as the protag. If the ending is to remain the same, I wouldn't mind the On the Way to a Smile entirely rewritten too. I think Nojima is way better at writing nowadays, and that would make those way more enjoyable.

As for the other titles, I've only played FFVII and FFVII Remake which I both love. I've watched CC on YT, maybe will play CCR later on; DoC was impossible to me given the kind of gameplay, I kinda wish they'd remake that one in a true JRPG, I think we'd gain so much more than a simple remaster or remake as a FPS, as per the original.

Of course I have both watched AC (my wrath was incommensurable regarding Cloud's characterisation) and ACC. While ACC did fare better, it's still not a good movie, though I can get by with the plot. But the characters aren't developped enough, most of it is just fights, it's too disjointed for someone who doesn't really know FFVII and even for someone who does, it's still hard to follow.

 

[Leafonthebreeze]

Ooh I forgot to talk about Before Crisis. I watched the entire thing on YouTube, also during lockdown, and there is so much weird fascinating potential there about who the Turks are, how they function and where their allegiances are. It's never quite fully fleshed out but you can bet my hype was real when we saw those Avalance uniforms show up in remake.

 

[ForceStealer]

By and large, I enjoyed it quite a bit while it was happening. I was usually among the contingent on here and ACF defending it. I still enjoy ACC, and I second that the novellas are the strongest thing to come out of the Compilation. In particular Cases of Shinra, Barret, and Tifa really improve Advent Children, imo. And Kids Are All Right turning Kadaj into a properly intimidating villain.
I still think Dirge is a fun, arcadey game to play, with good atmosphere and soundtrack. And being at the end of the timeline, it's story is inconsequential, if dumb.
Before Crisis was always bad, but easily ignored.

Crisis Core, I have to say, I have turned around on. I liked it a lot back when it came out, but my view on it has soured a lot since then. It just feels so much more like a hokey ass anime next to the writing and storytelling of the Remake. (which held all of its anime bullshit in with great effort before letting it all out at once right at the end, but still.)

So, in a cruel twist of irony, it was really the Remake that made me look down on the Compilation right before the remake project starts to involve the compilation in earnest, lol. Maybe it can find a way to elevate the material the way it did for so much of part 1. But I think a lot of people who got into this game from the Remake are in for a rude awakening with CC Reunion, lol.

 

[Jenova.exe]

Hell no! I hated it ever since Advent Children was screenshots on a Japanese website and my opinion hasn’t improved much since then despite that being like 18 years ago. I disliked it so much I didn’t even play Crisis Core until like 10+ years after it came out and even then it was after VIIR that I even touched it. I didn’t like Crisis Core because Aerith fell into the uwu gf JRPG girl trope that was SO prevalent during that time and I didn’t like what they did to Sephiroth at all, not to mention that Zack felt more like a Naruto or KH character than an FF protag to me. I know that might be a spicy opinion, but I’m hoping that maybe the CC remaster will change how I see him LMAO. Don’t even get me started on Genesis. Like, the best part of CC for me was Sephiroth, still with his faculties and just doing his thing, and I didn’t like him until I played it.

And it’s not like Dirge of Cerberus was anything to write home about either, in my opinion. The character designs were questionable at best and laughable at worst and I just didn’t like any of characters. It just felt like everything from the compilation was too much and trying way too hard. All of it felt like they were trying too hard and in some ways they’re still trying too hard.

Of course, now I’ve gotta buckle down and catch up because it’s canon now, but that doesn’t mean that I have to like all of it ?

 

[FFShinra]

I dislike the Compilation to the point where I consider it a separate continuity from the OG, which did not require a compilation in the first place. So there is the OG, there is FF7 in context of the compilation, and then there is the Remake, which is its own thing from both.

 

[cold_spirit]

(I'm so sorry, I accidently wrote a book…)

I maintain that the reasons behind Cloud's guilt and Sephiroth's return in Advent Children are fine. It's believable to me that, amongst the struggle to save the planet, Cloud didn't have the time to process the deaths of Aerith and Zack. It'd only be after he's settled into the new world order that those memories would resurface. As for Sephiroth's return, the original game gave us a few examples of "remnants" already. The Gi tribe warriors and Temple of the Ancients stewards both refused to return to the planet through strength of will alone. Sephiroth is similar, though his remnants come with an interesting condition. Since Sephiroth's will was focused entirely on resisting the lifestream, and presumably weakened from the final battle, he wasn’t able to rematerialize as himself. Instead, Sephiroth infected the spirit energy of three young men who recently died, imparting a piece of his will in each and consequently preventing their return to the planet. I like this. Though this doesn’t justify Sephiroth’s return from a strong narrative standpoint, I take solace in the fact that at least it doesn’t retcon the hell out of the original game's ending (as opposed to XIII-2, where “chaos” literally rewrites history or some baloney).

I would've given Kadaj a bigger role in the final battle though. In his scene with Rufus in Edge, it's shown that Kadaj thinks of himself as separate from Sephiroth. He's even upset that uniting with Jenova may end his individual existence. I would've liked for this idea to have gone somewhere. Instead of the final battle being another "Cloud vs Sephiroth '' rehash, it would've been far more interesting to spotlight Kadaj and show him wrestling for control of Jenova's legacy. Perhaps have him phase between two states, himself and Sephiroth attempting to take over, while also fighting off Cloud.

I think the world of Advent Children was a great direction to take after the original game. I like how the populace interprets Geostigma as the planet's punishment (it's even in the name, geo-stigma). Viewers have criticized the film for being too gray, but I think the color/tone is appropriate. The creators are trying to portray a broken world, a civilization that's sifting through the rubble. I also enjoy how the first half of Advent Children presents itself as a cinematic puzzle. Scenes are snappy, from different perspectives, and even out of order at times. While it may be confusing to first-timers, I've found that it makes rewatches all the more satisfying.

I could ramble about Advent Children for hours. I'm even one of those weirdos who prefers the original cut over Complete. The final aspect I'd like to champion is the movie's style. From the character designs to scene transitions, Advent Children is cool. I'll agree that the script is lacking, but for me its wholly original "texture" more than makes up for it. It's difficult to place Advent Children into one category. Is it modern? Fantasy? Sci-fi? Wherever it falls, the movie is unabashedly itself, exuding confidence and authenticity. I can't think of anything that has stirred as much of a "wow" factor in me as Advent Children in 2005.

A few years ago, on this very site I proclaimed that Dirge of Cerberus is of equal quality to Crisis Core. And I got some pushback! However, I don't think that's quite the case anymore. Public opinion on Dirge has been improving. What's changed? For starters, and I’ll elaborate on this, speedrunning. Dirge isn't a well-known speed game in the community by any means, but it does have a committed following. Let's contemplate that for a moment. Why has Dirge attracted speedrunners? Well, because it's a good speed game. And what makes a good speed game? Good game mechanics, that's what. That last sentence would've been considered blasphemy 15 years ago. Mind you, Dirge has a Metacritic score of 57. I've played games from that era with scores in the 50s and let me promise you this: Dirge of Cerberus deserves better.

I'm not saying Dirge should have 10s across the board, but it definitely needs a new number in the tens place. A quick glance at the reviews reveals a common thread. Fans and critics were not sold on the idea of a "FF shooter". But the landscape has changed a lot since then and FF has grown in scope. No one bat an eyelid at XV's Prompto expansion. When players pick up Dirge today, the rock solid, speedrun-worthy game mechanics are able to shine through. And let me tell you, Dirge was ahead of its time in terms of mechanics. At its release a shooter with character levels, stats, gun customization, and shops was unheard of. Now it's hard to find a shooter without these elements. Dirge predates RPG-shooters like The Division by 10 years. There was even an online mode that functioned similarly to Destiny. It’s wild! I can't understate enough how visionary Dirge was for its time.

Instead of leaning into the gothic horror that Vincent's character design might inspire, Dirge marches to the beat of its own drum and is actually the most sci-fi FFVII title to date. To see Vincent juxtaposed in front of hoverboards and cyberspace is... fascinating. This may sound like a critique, but I promise you it is not. There are some key plot points that keep the whole thing together. The oppressive Shinor Manor and war-torn Deepground, along with the cruel experiments performed within them, help connect the story's two eras. Vincent is a man from a former time, but the horrors that created him are still alive in the modern day. He is the original augmented soldier, tasked with fighting the latest generation of augmented super soldiers. I like this.

Keeping the whole thing grounded is Vincent's complicated relationship with Lucrecia, which surprisingly manages to avoid a few of the usual clichés in love stories. Largely because it isn't one. Lucrecia is never shown to truly reciprocate Vincent's feelings, she's simply too grief stricken. There's no "getting the girl" here. Instead, what we have is a protagonist fighting to give inner peace to the person he loves.

Echoing everyone's previous thoughts, On the Way to a Smile and The Kids Are Alright feature some of the best character development and interaction in the series outside of the original game. Case of Denzel and Case of Tifa are manatory reading in my opinion. Looking forward greatly to Traces of Two Pasts.

Ahhh, Crisis Core. The first game to have me HYPED. I remember being so excited that I couldn't sleep. On the day of, I ran to the mall to pick it up. In my brother's car on the way home, I played the game’s audio over the sound system. The concept was brilliant. An action-RPG set during the Wutai war starring Zack, Sephiroth, and Aerith, all of whom meet tragic ends. This knowledge gives every moment, especially the happy ones, an underlying tinge of sadness. But the execution stumbles. For example, it’s hard to take a Gackt clone army seriously...

For a while I was stuck on how unsatisfying everything felt. Crisis Core was the last major title in the Compilation. However, due to it being a prequel, the story needed to happen entirely in the shadows. But this restriction was handled awkwardly at times. I dislike that the resolution to Genesis’ story happens smack dab in the middle of Zack’s escape. “Oh yeah, let’s just take a little (read: big) detour to Banora, in the Mideel area, on our way to Midgar.” And before this Genesis was just… hanging out? For years? It feels forced and completely disconnected from Zack’s last stand, which is presented literally minutes later. To top it off, Genesis doesn’t even receive a conclusive ending. Crisis Core is effectively his origin story. It’s wild how after four major titles and a slew of smaller projects, it felt like the Compilation was just beginning, but in reality it was wrapping up.

Despite my hype, Crisis Core soon became my least favorite of the trio to be released in the west. The overarching story was stuck in limbo and most fans were too exhausted to even wish for it to continue. Such a pathetic state to be in. Enter Remake. Since its bombshell announcement trailer, the Remake Project has reinvigorated the series. As a side effect of this, it feels like we’re finally able to move past Crisis Core. I’m able to look back on the game much more fondly now. It’s no longer the "last major FFVII title”. It’s now situated exactly where it should have always been, as a spin-off. The game’s experimental nature has become an adornment instead of a blemish. For example, the DMW is an interesting substitute for other party members, randomly changing the flow of battle in a way that’s similar to having allies, and Reunion makes great efforts to smooth out its rough edges.

I look back on the Compilation with fondness. It’s interesting, some aspects feel like they lean too heavily on nostalgia, like how Zack meets Aerith, while others are uniquely their own, such as the aforementioned Geostigma. Then there are aspects that feel like natural expansions, like how Omega extends the cycle of spirit energy to the entire universe. I feel like this unique blend of old and new is alive and well in Remake. Despite being seemingly trapped by their own invention, Nomura, Kitase, and Nojima continue to find ways to surprise fans. That dedication to pushing boundaries doesn’t come without its fair share of controversy, but to this fan in particular, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

[Elkazor]

**** I'm gonna mention spoilers for compilation to explain ***

I'm selective and very particular when it comes to Compilation. I'll preface this with the fact that I haven't played CC, I've just seen various scenes from it. I haven't read the official novellas, though I did recently listen to the audiobook translation of The Maiden Who Travels the Planet, and that was *fantastic* as a fan of the OG. I know it technically isn't a part of Compilation, but it felt exactly like a story in the spirit of the OG, and is, imo, the closest thing we've ever gotten to a follow-up that captures the feel of the OG. The storytelling was on par with the storytelling in the OG imo and it just about moved me to tears with how beautifully it was written.

As for the Compilation itself, well, I've already explained the humourous tale of how Advent Children introduced me to Final Fantasy. I haven't really returned to Advent Children since I got into OG and the rest of the series all those years ago bc playing the OG left me even more confused about the direction they chose to take with it. XD

The main thing about Advent Children I'm not a fan of is that it is once again focused on Cloud and Sephiroth when those two characters had a complete arc within the OG, they didn't need another story focused on them. That and the rest of the cast is barely involved in the movie.
The other reason I don't like Advent Children though, is the fact that they decided to retcon Rufus Shinra's death. I felt like that character's death was a perfect and satisfying point in the OG: The arrogant, crude, and privileged president of the corrupt corporation that's ruining the planet gets blasted by one of the beasts fighting to protect the planet at all costs. A poetic and fitting end. (I also felt that it took away from Diamond Weapon's big moment: taking down the corrupt president with it as it goes down. The retcon means Diamond essentially died for nothing. At least Sapphire Weapon saved Tifa!) I also felt like Rufus' character didn't have that many directions it could go after the OG. I didn't like the idea of making him more sympathetic, and a big problem I have with a lot of the Compilation is that it has a tendency to make Shinra characters more sympathetic than they were ever intended to be in the OG. Neither Shinra nor Sephiroth needed to be sympathetic and imo the overall story becomes weaker when you try to make them so when you consider all of the horrible crap they've done and are complicit in. It takes away from the whole reason why they were supposed to be the villains. Plus the OG already had a great sympathetic villain with Dyne.

In general I dislike when follow-ups to a story try to re-write story points that were already established in the OG and worked perfectly fine as they were.

I feel similarly with Crisis Core as well. I'm in the camp that thinks Genesis completely ruins Sephiroth's entire character the way he was implemented into that game. I really hated how they tried to include him in the Nibelheim incident, I really disliked how he essentially straight up says to Sephiroth "Jenova was a monster" and goads him into everything instead of Sephiroth being driven mad by realizing the existential horror of his life on his own. I also felt like Zack was a character that didn't need to be that fleshed out (even though I know he's popular) and that the OG, Last Order anime, and Before Crisis show all that the character needed to be. Sometimes a side character is just a side character, you know? Cloud's tough persona at the beginning of FFVII didn't need to have such an unnecessarily complex explanation.

That all being said, the parts that I do like about Compilation are probably weirdly particular to most. I decided to watch all of Before Crisis on YouTube, and as far as I'm concerned, it is the *best* title in the Compilation by far (except for maybe the novellas, since I haven't read those). The writing is surprisingly great (Tseng's arc in it is particularly outstanding) and what I especially loved about the story was that unlike the other comp titles, it didn't try to make Shinra sympathetic. You play as a Turks, and the game makes it perfectly clear that the kind of people who want to join Shinra are really screwed up and corrupt opportunists who are willing to do any job for the sake of the money. The character you play is blatantly like this, and the game never sugarcoats that. That alone got my respect, but not only that, the gameplay even seems really interesting. (There is apparently an option to "craft" materia? !) And it's an RPG that plays similar to the OG. One thing I wished Before Crisis handled better though was Elfe's character. She has become one of my favorite characters from Compilation and is easily imo the most underrated character in FFVII's lore. The other things are that I wished it wasn't a mobile phone game, and I think it's a shame that SE never seem to be interested in taking a similar approach to FFVII again.

And that leaves me with my other title I like from Compilation, and where most people might think I have oddly specific tastes. I actually like Dirge of Cerberus a fair bit. AC and CC tried too hard to take themselves seriously while at the same time being convoluted and over-the-top, while Dirge of Cerberus doesn't even try to take itself too seriously at all. It sticks to its style and just has fun going off the rails with it in the end. and the game's story is surprisingly consistent with the OG. It even adds some very interesting aspects to the lore that work well within FFVII's world, like Omega Weapon and the Chaos gene. What greatly helped with keeping the lore consistent was that Vincent was notoriously the most under-develped and mysterious character in the OG, so they had a lot more room for creative freedom. The game's story, imo, benefits from that.
That last level where the entire game just goes all out genuinely had me grinning from ear to ear at how unapologetic the game was being, just having fun with the over-the-top goofy edginess without trying to take itself too seriously. I loved it. It even shockingly fits Vincent's melodramatic attitude from the OG.

It helps that Vincent is my favorite character from the OG, (as you can probably tell from my pfp) and that's mostly due to the fact that I find him to be one of the most compelling secret characters developed in a video game.

 

[Elkazor]

**** I'm gonna mention spoilers for compilation to explain ***

I'm selective and very particular when it comes to Compilation. I'll preface this with the fact that I haven't played CC, I've just seen various scenes from it. I haven't read the official novellas, though I did recently listen to the audiobook translation of The Maiden Who Travels the Planet, and that was *fantastic* as a fan of the OG. I know it technically isn't a part of Compilation, but it felt exactly like a story in the spirit of the OG, and is, imo, the closest thing we've ever gotten to a follow-up that captures the feel of the OG. The storytelling was on par with the storytelling in the OG imo and it just about moved me to tears with how beautifully it was written.

As for the Compilation itself, well, I've already explained the humourous tale of how Advent Children introduced me to Final Fantasy. I haven't really returned to Advent Children since I got into OG and the rest of the series all those years ago bc playing the OG left me even more confused about the direction they chose to take with it. XD

The main thing about Advent Children I'm not a fan of is that it is once again focused on Cloud and Sephiroth when those two characters had a complete arc within the OG, they didn't need another story focused on them. That and the rest of the cast is barely involved in the movie.
The other reason I don't like Advent Children though, is the fact that they decided to retcon Rufus Shinra's death. I felt like that character's death was a perfect and satisfying point in the OG: The arrogant, crude, and privileged president of the corrupt corporation that's ruining the planet gets blasted by one of the beasts fighting to protect the planet at all costs. A poetic and fitting end. (I also felt that it took away from Diamond Weapon's big moment: taking down the corrupt president with it as it goes down. The retcon means Diamond essentially died for nothing. At least Sapphire Weapon saved Tifa!) I also felt like Rufus' character didn't have that many directions it could go after the OG. I didn't like the idea of making him more sympathetic, and a big problem I have with a lot of the Compilation is that it has a tendency to make Shinra characters more sympathetic than they were ever intended to be in the OG. Neither Shinra nor Sephiroth needed to be sympathetic and imo the overall story becomes weaker when you try to make them so when you consider all of the horrible crap they've done and are complicit in. It takes away from the whole reason why they were supposed to be the villains. Plus the OG already had a great sympathetic villain with Dyne.

In general I dislike when follow-ups to a story try to re-write story points that were already established in the OG and worked perfectly fine as they were.

I feel similarly with Crisis Core as well. I'm in the camp that thinks Genesis completely ruins Sephiroth's entire character the way he was implemented into that game. I really hated how they tried to include him in the Nibelheim incident, I really disliked how he essentially straight up says to Sephiroth "Jenova was a monster" and goads him into everything instead of Sephiroth being driven mad by realizing the existential horror of his life on his own. I also felt like Zack was a character that didn't need to be that fleshed out (even though I know he's popular) and that the OG, Last Order anime, and Before Crisis show all that the character needed to be. Sometimes a side character is just a side character, you know? Cloud's tough persona at the beginning of FFVII didn't need to have such an unnecessarily complex explanation.

That all being said, the parts that I do like about Compilation are probably weirdly particular to most. I decided to watch all of Before Crisis on YouTube, and as far as I'm concerned, it is the *best* title in the Compilation by far (except for maybe the novellas, since I haven't read those). The writing is surprisingly great (Tseng's arc in it is particularly outstanding) and what I especially loved about the story was that unlike the other comp titles, it didn't try to make Shinra sympathetic. You play as a Turks, and the game makes it perfectly clear that the kind of people who want to join Shinra are really screwed up and corrupt opportunists who are willing to do any job for the sake of the money. The character you play is blatantly like this, and the game never sugarcoats that. That alone got my respect, but not only that, the gameplay even seems really interesting. (There is apparently an option to "craft" materia? !) And it's an RPG that plays similar to the OG. One thing I wished Before Crisis handled better though was Elfe's character. She has become one of my favorite characters from Compilation and is easily imo the most underrated character in FFVII's lore. The other things are that I wished it wasn't a mobile phone game, and I think it's a shame that SE never seem to be interested in taking a similar approach to FFVII again.

And that leaves me with my other title I like from Compilation, and where most people might think I have oddly specific tastes. I actually like Dirge of Cerberus a fair bit. AC and CC tried too hard to take themselves seriously while at the same time being convoluted and over-the-top, while Dirge of Cerberus doesn't even try to take itself too seriously at all. It sticks to its style and just has fun going off the rails with it in the end. and the game's story is surprisingly consistent with the OG. It even adds some very interesting aspects to the lore that work well within FFVII's world, like Omega Weapon and the Chaos gene. What greatly helped with keeping the lore consistent was that Vincent was notoriously the most under-develped and mysterious character in the OG, so they had a lot more room for creative freedom. The game's story, imo, benefits from that.
That last level where the entire game just goes all out genuinely had me grinning from ear to ear at how unapologetic the game was being, just having fun with the over-the-top goofy edginess without trying to take itself too seriously. I loved it. It even shockingly fits Vincent's melodramatic attitude from the OG.

It helps that Vincent is my favorite character from the OG, (as you can probably tell from my pfp) and that's mostly due to the fact that I find him to be one of the most compelling secret characters developed in a video game.

*** Forgot to mention my main gripe with Dirge of Cerberus though was that there was no Death Gigas or Hellmasker.