insanehobbit
Pro Adventurer
I get that, but at the same time, if someone legitimately believes that Tifa suddenly flipping from being Cloud's childhood bully to dropping everything to take care of him when he becomes a vegetable, and Cloud suddenly realizing he's in love with a dead woman he had known for about 2 weeks (who also happens to be the girlfriend of his best friend who gave his life for him) after deciding to move in with Tifa and start a family with her are the intended characterizations for the heroes of the story, then that is their problem. Like best of luck trying to consume any other media out there, buddy!
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Should probably wait to formulate my thoughts until we get a fuller context/summaries of the new novella, but I like how it expands on Tifa's backstory without stepping on the major moments from her past that should be revealed in the main narrative. Namely, what happened when she & Cloud fell from the Mt. Nibel, the actual events of the Nibelheim Incident, and the moment she finds Cloud at the train station. The last one was the one I was most worried about after the cover was released, but thank goodness, they're holding onto that reveal.
Lifestream aside, that might be my favorite moment from the OG. It's the moment the game stops trying to play narrative tricks and we, the player, are able to learn the truth along with the characters. We switch to Tifa's POV and realize that this too has been the story we've been watching all along. Tifa's flashback to finding an incoherent Cloud isn't really a flashback in a traditional sense but the game essentially revealing that it had actually started in media res.
Why does the game begin with the first reactor mission? Up until this point, we assume it's because that's when Cloud first meets Aerith. The extraordinary hero meets the extraordinary heroine, and it launches us into the story of the Ex-SOLDIER & the Last Cetra saving the world from Sephiroth, his former comrade and the enemy of her kind. After Tifa's reveal, the opening mission is re-contexualized. While the importance of Cloud meeting Aerith is not diminished, we realize that the only reason Cloud was a part of that mission in the first place was because Tifa wanted to watch over him. That first mission also marks the beginning of a different story: an ordinary woman re-encounters an ordinary man from her past who is putting on a strange facade that makes her question her own memories; slowly and painfully, they break down the barriers that have been erected between them and the truth. Of course, since the Cloud we meet at the beginning of the game is desperate to erase his ordinariness, the "real" opening of the story (i.e., Tifa finding Cloud at the station) is hidden from the player since it's the part of Cloud he's hiding from himself.
Which is why I love how the novella explicitly confirms that the reason Tifa falls in love with Cloud is because she realizes he is ordinary. One of the biggest obstacles in their relationship is that they both put the other on a pedestal. In an extreme example of girls maturing faster than boys, Tifa actually figures this out at the age of 13! She finally sees Cloud for who he really is, and realizes that this is the boy she loves. Of course, once the game starts, she's regressed (she kinda has to! where's the drama if she's already figured it all out?). This is largely because the Cloud she meets again seems to be this great ex-SOLDIER. Once again, he seems extraordinary and out of reach, and maybe a better fit for an extraordinary woman like her new friend Aerith. To complicate matters, this new Cloud is so deep in his delusions that he's seemingly forgotten the reason he wanted to be extraordinary in the first place (i.e., to impress Tifa) and he even starts to think he should be with the extraordinary heroine. (I'd argue this point is only present in the OG). Theirs is the story of dismantling these delusions and learning to see the other as they truly are, warts and all, and loving them still.
I've come to think that every great love story is also a coming-of-age story, which is why Cloud and Tifa's romance is so damn satisfying. They're absolutely instrumental in the other's personal growth. Here's a very simplistic version of the Hegelian dialectic model of Cloud's arc:
Why does the game begin with the first reactor mission? Up until this point, we assume it's because that's when Cloud first meets Aerith. The extraordinary hero meets the extraordinary heroine, and it launches us into the story of the Ex-SOLDIER & the Last Cetra saving the world from Sephiroth, his former comrade and the enemy of her kind. After Tifa's reveal, the opening mission is re-contexualized. While the importance of Cloud meeting Aerith is not diminished, we realize that the only reason Cloud was a part of that mission in the first place was because Tifa wanted to watch over him. That first mission also marks the beginning of a different story: an ordinary woman re-encounters an ordinary man from her past who is putting on a strange facade that makes her question her own memories; slowly and painfully, they break down the barriers that have been erected between them and the truth. Of course, since the Cloud we meet at the beginning of the game is desperate to erase his ordinariness, the "real" opening of the story (i.e., Tifa finding Cloud at the station) is hidden from the player since it's the part of Cloud he's hiding from himself.
Which is why I love how the novella explicitly confirms that the reason Tifa falls in love with Cloud is because she realizes he is ordinary. One of the biggest obstacles in their relationship is that they both put the other on a pedestal. In an extreme example of girls maturing faster than boys, Tifa actually figures this out at the age of 13! She finally sees Cloud for who he really is, and realizes that this is the boy she loves. Of course, once the game starts, she's regressed (she kinda has to! where's the drama if she's already figured it all out?). This is largely because the Cloud she meets again seems to be this great ex-SOLDIER. Once again, he seems extraordinary and out of reach, and maybe a better fit for an extraordinary woman like her new friend Aerith. To complicate matters, this new Cloud is so deep in his delusions that he's seemingly forgotten the reason he wanted to be extraordinary in the first place (i.e., to impress Tifa) and he even starts to think he should be with the extraordinary heroine. (I'd argue this point is only present in the OG). Theirs is the story of dismantling these delusions and learning to see the other as they truly are, warts and all, and loving them still.
I've come to think that every great love story is also a coming-of-age story, which is why Cloud and Tifa's romance is so damn satisfying. They're absolutely instrumental in the other's personal growth. Here's a very simplistic version of the Hegelian dialectic model of Cloud's arc:
Thesis: As a child, Cloud thinks that he needs to be strong like Sephiroth in order to be great.
Antithesis: Throughout the game, Sephiroth (and reality, lbr) argues to Cloud that he is actually weak.
Synthesis: In the Lifestream, Cloud realizes that he has to accept his own weakness before he can find the strength to defeat Sephiroth.
This is more or less an accurate summary of Cloud's arc, but it lacks a certain flavor because it's missing the real impetus behind Cloud's actions: Tifa. Why does Cloud want to be strong in the first place? Because he blamed himself for being too weak to protect Tifa when they fell from the mountain.
Who is he most terrified of appearing weak to? I mean honestly everyone, but most likely the person who he's putting up this facade of strength to impress in the first place.
Thus to find his true strength, Cloud must confess his weakness to the one person he's most terrified of appearing weak to, which he finally does with Tifa in the Lifestream.
The great irony of it all is that Tifa never wanted the strong, extraordinary Cloud. She was always in love with the "weak," ordinary boy next door. And all it takes is the end of the world for him to figure it out.
Think about how horrible last year it was, I just hope everyone stay safe and sound so we can witness the story in 4K together.