SPOILERS FFVII:R Chapter 12 Spoiler Discussion

[Jairus]

Makes sense that they're the ones Domino would've contact for that, but it still doesn't explain why they were never at the pillar.

 

[Odysseus]

I was redoing chapter 12 on hard mode, and that was definitely something I was wondering. Maybe they don't care if Midgar gets destroyed, as long as Shinra is crippled.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Possible Avalanche thinks the whole of Midgar has to go. It's not a city you could run without mako power, anyway.

 

[Roger]

Makes sense that they're the ones Domino would've contact for that, but it still doesn't explain why they were never at the pillar.

The trains have stopped, if they are based on top of the plate, they can't just get to the slums willy nilly.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

They could have parachuted in!!!!!

 

[Roger]

They could have parachuted in!!!!!

Their helicopters were probably under constant Whisper assault.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Yes, I guess the intervention of the Whispers conveniently explains a lot of things.

 

[Cloud_S]

Given how Cloud uses the Assess materia outside battle to find hidden buttons on the vending machine... I was yelling "USE THE DAMN HEALING MATERIA SHE GAVE YOU!" during the scene with Jessie (and also with Biggs....). Fighting both Reno and Rude was an interesting way to expand on the fight. I have to wonder about that "blip" that occurs with Marlene and Aerith.... wasn't expecting that.

I definitely agree with the music still playing during the plate falling FMV... and the odd inclusion of Caith Sith (couldn't just show Reeve?), but it was still sad either way. Even though I knew there was nothing we could do to change Biggs or Jessie's fate, I still hoped they might've tossed in some secret side-quest that would've given you the ability to save one or both of them.

 

[jeronimus]

I think showing the human casualties and the human reactions would have been way more effective here. Reeve has been established as feeling bad about this whole thing, but they don't want to show that he's actively trying to prevent casualties yet, so Cait Sith is what they went for, but at that moment in the story, the image of Cait Sith doesn't mean anything yet and it actively undercuts tension. It's not even clear what this cat is trying to do. Just showing Reeve desperately looking on from behind glass in the Shinra tower, tears welling in his eyes, to contrast with the ruthless, heartless president Shinra who's even higher up in the tower, safe and secure and drowning out the noise with music... that could've been effective to show once again how far removed he is from considering the human consequences to what he's doing.

I keep coming back to the shot of the tv broadcast cutting out as the plate falls outside of the window in the OG - it tells so much in just one shot. From a filmmaking perspective, even if the new version is more "impressive", the way the original tells its story with minimal shot usage is definitely more clever.

 

[Mayo Master]

Catching up on the paparazzi playthrough (I went through this chapter about 1 week ago).

Spoiler: Catching up and Aerith's dash to Seventh Heaven

 

[Mayo Master]

Spoiler: the ascent

 

[Mayo Master]

Spoiler: Clash with the Turks and escape

One small frustration is that you can't pause during pre-rendered cutscenes, and as a result the snapshots tend to be quite blurry, as was the case during the pillar destruction.

 

[Torrie]

I might as well stop writing my chapter-by-chapter impressions because Shademp has already said it all

Ch12 feels in many ways like a good disaster movie (in short form).

I'm kidding, I won't stop. But it seriously does.

Despite having watched this chapter a few times before, I still found it breathtaking and incredibly sad. Wedge's speech is tear-inducing every now and then because his desire to be able to make a difference is so so sooo relatable. The overarching theme of loss goes full bloom in this chapter and the beginning of the next one, multiplied by the old player's knowledge of something inevitable coming closer and closer. So yeah, Wedge is the best boy, Biggs is the biggest heart, and Jessie is once an actress, forever an actress kind of person. Losing them, especially after having spent so much quality time with them, is so. damn. hard.

I am not fucking okay right now

^ what he said

Cait Sith's inclusion was so annoyingly useless that it's actually the only thing that I'm not happy with. But on the other hand, I can't think of a scene where this stuffed abomination would seem fitting. I have no clue.

The plate drop is probably more realistic in the Remake, but it's way less powerful. Partly, I think, because the focus is on saving people. So many people are saved that it feel as if everybody is saved.

I can't agree with the idea that having survivors somehow diminishes the impact of the tragedy. Quite on the contrary, whenever I walked past NPCs blaming Shinra, or freaking out, or looking for their family and friends, or lamenting their losses and wondering if anyone they knew had made it alive, I couldn't help investing more and more emotion into everything that was going on. The sort of insta-death treatment that Sector 7 received in the OG always felt less shocking for me. It's quite funny to see how drastically different people's interpretations of the episode are.

Why would the city have a built in self-destruct sequence that relies on utterly destroying the people in it?!?!

Perhaps, the self-destruct scenario was built in during the initial stages of putting up the plates because the builders were not sure if their constructions would be a success architecture-wise therefore they were ready to drop them any minute in order to start building from scratch?? Again, I have no freaking clue.

 

[Odysseus]

Oh no don't remind me of the cringe I posted early in this thread. Those were dark days.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Awww there's no cringe here!

 

[Odysseus]

I was a Jessie simp lol.

 

[Torrie]

I don't see a problem with that. Embrace your inner simp and carry on

Actually, the more I think of Jessie, the more I like her as a character. I wrote "once an actress, forever an actress" intentionally, because she reminds me of some friends of mine who... I don't even know how to explain. You never know with them whether they're playing the role they've developed for themselves or they're actually being sincere. It seems even at their lowest lows they still keep playing pretend. And Jessie is exactly like that. All these playful mannerisms of hers keep herself distracted from heavy thoughts. Just like Wedge, she's trying to achieve something... anything... but eventually fails: as an actress (she abandons her carreer), as a planetologist (she can't save her father), and as an eco-terrorist (she dies too soon).

 

[Odysseus]

The guy at the top of this page ruined it for me lol. I appreciate your words though. I still like her, but honestly I think Wedge is the best of the three.

 

[Torrie]

Yeah, what's shat cannot be unshat. I hope the toxicity will wear off someday though.

 

[Shademp]

I'm assuming that no blood was added to Chapter 12 in the Intergrade version?

But on the other hand, I can't think of a scene where this stuffed abomination would seem fitting.

Poor Cait Sith.

 

[Odysseus]

I'm assuming that no blood was added to Chapter 12 in the Intergrade version?

Nope

 

[Shademp]

THE BLOOD GOD IS DISSATISFIED

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I like "what's shat cannot be unshat".

 

[Odysseus]

Well...
...
With a little effort and a funnel...

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Well...
...
With a little effort and a funnel...

When I loaded this thread, the first thing I saw was this post, then I scrolled up and initially misread "what's shat cannot be unshat" as "what's Shad cannot be unShad" ... so ... I was picturing something a little too specific ...