SPOILERS FFVII:R Chapter 16 Spoiler Discussion

[LNK]

Wow! The detail in Shinra HQ is great. Like a few said, it really shows the disparity of wealth between here and other places in the game.

Taking the stairs was really funny. I liked the banter between Cloud and Barret. It was even cool how the game forced you to go slower as you got higher. I thought my controller was busted haha.

The Cosmos theater was really cool. I'm really glad they're showing more of the Cetra. Hopefully that continues in future parts.

The museum type stuff was really cool. Like @Makoeyes987 brought up, I can't believe Shinra from x-2 was in the photo! In the hopes for the remake thread, I said I thought it would be cool if we did get that connection in this. Also, there was a photo of a guy in the space section. I wonder if that is supposed to be Cid?

I can't stand Hojo! But in a really good way. I'm excited to see what they do with him, Lucrecia and Vincent, in their arc.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I wish they hadn't made Hojo quite so viscerally repulsive. I mean, I get it: Good people are beautiful. Bad people are ugly.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Hojo is not visually repulsive until he acts it.

This is literally the most normal and somewhat well-adjusted he's ever looked. Greasiness aside. He looks like Jeff Goldblum after a bender.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Hmmm.

 

[youffie]

I found his face very interesting? Like, I wouldn't say that he was attractive but I didn't find him repulsive. Until that first scene with Aerith, of course.

 

[Makoeyes987]

If Hojo washed his face, put himself together, acted like a well-adjusted adult and exhibited just basic human decency, I could see how a young woman would be down for him. A good sense of humor and manners with that intellect could go a long way.

...But then he'd start dry humping her and drooling over her beautiful cellular structure...

Forever alone. Unless it's Jenova.

 

[lithiumkatana17]

5.) The Hojo and Aerith scene. Jesus Christ. What makes it even more horrifying is imagining Hojo performing those same facial expressions, while in bed with Lucrecia, as they make their baby Sephiroth. You're welcome

I. hate. you.

Let me store that away for a future nightmare that will never leave my subconscious--Hojo's spastic O-face whilst he copulates and spawns a new life form.

One thing that caught my eye in the Shinra exhibit was how much President Shinra looked like Rufus in his youth:



So now I have to live with the fact that the President was actually an attractive young man.

Overall I thought the Shinra museum and subsequent exhibits were very well done. And the gold statue and pistol were gaudy as hell but they really clue you in on the excessive amount of wealth the President has.

Something I've been thinking about--was Rufus in on the plot to kill his father that night, the one that Mayor Domino assumed was happening until the gang told him otherwise? I can see no other reason why he'd feel the need to call the Turks to pick him up and prep for a grand entrance unless he assumed his father was going to die. Not by Sephiroth's hand, but die nonetheless.

 

[Odysseus]

Wasn't Rufus actually the backer of Avalanche in before crisis? I'm sure he was in on Domino's scheme at least.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Naw, because after AVALANCHE betrayed him and nearly killed him, I don't think Rufus would be willing to tolerate anymore subverters to their cause at all.

I think Domino is a more recent informant for this current, less genocidal incarnation of AVALANCHE.

 

[ForceStealer]

I wish they hadn't made Hojo quite so viscerally repulsive. I mean, I get it: Good people are beautiful. Bad people are ugly.

Are you kidding?

lol. Also that summation doesn't really track with how pretty Rufus, the Turks, and Sephiroth are.

but yeah I agree with Mako that for those first few moments while Hojo was still being a little normal with Aerith, it wasn't too unsettling until he allowed himself to become unhinged. He was also a lot more normal in that Board Meeting than in the OG, when he couldn't help but speak in riddles and convulse-laugh.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I don't think that's true, Force. I think we are going to find in subsequent installments that the pretty Turks will gradually find their heart of gold.

Yeah, I mean, I know he was repulsive in the OG. I don't really know what to say. I don't wish they'd made him pretty as well. I wonder why he wears dark glasses inside a dark lab?

 

[ForceStealer]

I think we are going to find in subsequent installments that the pretty Turks will gradually find their heart of gold.

Even if that's true, that still leaves Rufus, Scarlet. Even Heidegger looks better than he used to. And President Shinra was a bit more sveldt. And then, of course, there's Sephiroth.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I know. It seems unfair that Hojo was the only one not to get a glow-up. But I suppose he is above such petty considerations.

Rufus is going to be a lot less of a villain and a lot more of a badass in this Remake. Ultimately, Fate knows he has a key role to play in defeating Sephiroth.

 

[Odysseus]

Hojo doesn't strike me as the type to put much stock in personal hygiene. I like how greasy he looks. At the end of the day his son is the most iconic pretty boy villain in all of JRPGs anyway.

 

[lithiumkatana17]

Given what we've seen of Hojo and his personality, I don't think he's one to care about his looks; at least, not anymore.

Heck, his FIRST thought about being carted off by an unknown force was 'What is this strange and fascinating phenomenon?" Dude obviously has little regard for his personal well-being if it means getting answers in the name of sCiEnCe.

 

[Claymore]

Just to echo everyone else. Shinra HQ was incredible. Loved this chapter.

 

[oty]

Yeah, this is like where the game went back, specially visually, at top-freaking-level. That initial scene of the Cover art of the game was just....perfect

 

[Shademp]

My face when:

THIS CHAPTER. THIS GODDAMN CHAPTER. I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

It still gets me that the mayor of a pizza shaped city is named Domino.

I...never made this connection before. I knew about the reference to the pizza-chain but I never considered the irony seeing what he's the mayor of. How could I have lived unknowingly like this for the last 22 years. My life is forever changed. Tomorrow is not only a new day. It is a new life.

 

[Makoeyes987]

...That encounter with Cloud and security recognizing him made me laugh out loud while simultaneously cringing at how fucking awkward, confusing and embarrassing that had to have been for Cloud. Hell, Cloud's reaction alone gave me goosebumps.

Like, its so damn awkward and confusing for Cloud especially if you know the truth. I was with Cloud just getting the hell out of there because it was a can of worms waiting to explode.

 

[Roger]

My face when:

THIS CHAPTER. THIS GODDAMN CHAPTER. I LOVE IT SO MUCH.


I...never made this connection before. I knew about the reference to the pizza-chain but I never considered the irony seeing what he's the mayor of. How could I have lived unknowingly like this for the last 22 years. My life is forever changed. Tomorrow is not only a new day. It is a new life.

Not only is Domino named after the pizza chain, Deputy Major Hart was meant to be Deputy Major Hut after Pizza Hut.

 

[Rydeen]

Blew. My. Mind.

I have so many thoughts.

I think that the Remake Shinra Building is substantially better than the original. This is the Shinra HQ I’ve been waiting for. The original was quite tedious, whereas the remake manages to present the scale and essence of the corporation without it being repetitive to the player. I am so glad we got to choose the stairs - so, off course, I took them. They feel endless, but we are treated to hilarious dialogue throughout, just like in the original. The villains were portrayed perfectly, including Hojo (“beautiful down to your cellular structure” yikes, what a line). They also kept “something stinks”! The fights were fun and not excessive. Love the little touch with someone recognizing Cloud - the actual Cloud. Seeing Kunsel would probably tear his brain apart, though.

I was wondering how they were going to portray the breach more realistically this time, and they were on point. It is not even remotely feasible for the party to start killing people without having the entire Shinra army on them until they die, so having Mayor Domino intervene was perfect (I also loved saying “the Mayor” to everyone and seeing their reactions). It’s pretty stupid to give a single person who may have ill will based on what was done to him be the exclusive person who looks at the CCTV footage for the lower floors, but that is realistically stupid, especially for someone like President Shinra who tends to pretend he has no real enemies. I’m not sure how Hojo didn’t put the entire building on higher alert though - maybe I missed something. We now also know for sure that Scarlet gets horny over weapons, which is something we all already knew if we’re being honest. What’s with her theme in the jukebox, though? So unfitting.

The remake reminded me how abhorrent of a person Palmer is, possibly even worse than the rest. Not only does he show little concern for these awful practices and collects his huge paycheck, but he’s cowardly too. At least Scarlet and President have balls.

The tour was amazing. We get to sit back and watch cheery Shinra propaganda and get into the heads of how most employees probably see the world to perfectly discordant music, and it just felt so tangible to me.

Tseng has devil’s advocate down to an art form. And now we also know they are in the basement, because of course they are. How do basements work when a building is elevated? Wonder what that call from “the VP” was. The Turks would probably be mobilized already if the President had died, so I wonder if Rufus caught wind of Sephiroth before everyone somehow.

It looks like President Shinra didn’t have much of a rationale for dropping the plate and has remained something of an insane son of a bitch. I kind of like this, because people IRL in similar positions often act in similarly wasteful and needlessly cruel ways. They also kept the cigar habit - I was worried they were gonna ditch that. His personal exhibit says a lot about him. I was half expecting to see something about his late wife and mother to his son (not necessarily Rufus himself due to that whole trying to kill him thing). Even extremely conceited people would often still be inclined to put something about their wife, father, family, etc to show them off. Aside from a historic group photo, it’s all about President Shinra. At this point I’m wondering if he cares about anyone at all. I wonder if he was always this way or if he gradually became worse and worse. @lithiumkatana17 I always knew since CC that President was more than likely good looking in his youth. Rufus and Lazard look almost like twins and he’s the common thread there. Then in the Turk novel, Rufus admitted that he looked like his father from the eyes up. The latter half of his face is quite different, though.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

The Turks are in the basement? I missed picking up on that. What clued you in, Ryvius?

 

[oty]

My biggest gripe with this chapter, and that's also with the original portion of the OG, is that my mind just cannot justify how the 3most wanted people by Shinra can literally talk with Shinra Personnel in a personal space without not a single one of them realising who they are and immediately call security to bust their asses. Didnt in Chapter 7 Shinra broadcasted the trio inside the reactor?

 

[Rydeen]

The Turks are in the basement? I missed picking up on that. What clued you in, Ryvius?

The caption that popped up said B3 or something to that effect.

My biggest gripe with this chapter, and that's also with the original portion of the OG, is that my mind just cannot justify how the 3most wanted people by Shinra can literally talk with Shinra Personnel in a personal space without not a single one of them realising who they are and immediately call security to bust their asses. Didnt in Chapter 7 Shinra broadcasted the trio inside the reactor?

I thought of that too, but that’s the kind of thing I’m more willing to wave off as game logic. It’s unfeasible to wear the same thing at all times, so I look at the clothing as a placeholder and assume they would be in disguise, if that makes sense. There were never any other instances of disguise, so the logic can withstand. They would have had to change their outfits constantly.

 

[Teioh]

Spoiler: Yup, B3