FFVII Remake: Intergrade Yuffie DLC Announced

[Keveh Kins]

Agreed. And while the scene of the plate drop might have lost some horror, the aftermath of the No. 1 reactor explosion certainly gained a lot.

This One of the best segments of the Remake

 

[Ite]

I liked that the people from other sectors didn’t give a shit about Sector 7 in the OG. The guy only cared about the dust in his soup. It hammered home the “everyone for themselves” mentality that late-stage capitalism creates. In fact, it served to further isolate me, because I felt a great loss, and anyone else who would have cared was gone.

 

[Keveh Kins]

I might be remembering wrong, but isn't there a lady walking around sector 6 after the plate fall just being like "This is great, got so much scrap" or something?

Midgar is too like the real world sometimes

 

[ForceStealer]

I mean, there's not caring about other people, but if, say, a skyscaper tipped over and flattened the neighborhood over from you, and you live in the shadow of an identical building, I think you'd be pretty shaken up no matter what you thought of the people killed.

 

[Odysseus]

So a bunch of nameless people die, nobody cares, it's never mentioned again, and that's better?

 

[KindOfBlue]

Seeing your Avalanche buddies die one after the other and later see how people where crushed to death by the plate while the president watches with classical music running in the background is pretty cold and to really hammer it home that everyone fucking died, after that point you have no access to sector 7 anymore, because there is nothing to go back to. I say that's 100% balls of steel.

But I didn’t care about Avalanche at all at this point because I barely got to spend time with them lol I do like the classical music while Shinra watches in terms of artsy presentation but then there’s also the remake where you can actually see his smug facial expression proud of what he’s done

I mean, there's not caring about other people, but if, say, a skyscaper tipped over and flattened the neighborhood over from you, and you live in the shadow of an identical building, I think you'd be pretty shaken up no matter what you thought of the people killed.

Especially with the thought of “if this wasn’t an accident, are they gonna try to take us out next?”

 

[Ite]

I might be remembering wrong, but isn't there a lady walking around sector 6 after the plate fall just being like "This is great, got so much scrap" or something?

Midgar is too like the real world sometimes

There are two pickers near the weapon shop in Wall Market that treat the platefall like good luck. The woman in Sector 5 who likes finding things on the ground says she ought to start looking up instead (after Meteor is summoned she changes her tune again). Obviously, people took notice, but only cared as far as it impacted them. I wanted more fear and anxiety in Remake, not boo hooing.

@Odysseus “Less is more” doesn’t quite express what I’m getting at, but just to add to my last post: it resonated with me because of my own experiences with death. Every time, the person I want to commiserate the most with is the person who is gone. That feeling deep in the pit of my stomach is what the absence of commiseration in the OG does. In Remake, all the characters get King Theoden’s closure with the sad strings and face touches, everyone in Midgar is super beat up about it, and to top it off, no one I can remember actually died (Jury is out on Jessie).

 

[Odysseus]

Maybe it's because I was young when 9/11 happened, but seeing a whole nation in shock and misery just kinda resonates more with me personally. I think following too many stories where mass death is a thing that happens has kind of numbed me to feeling bad for a bunch of characters I don't know. Lic might know what I'm talking about lol. In the original, nobody that died was anyone I'd want to commiserate with to begin with really. They all serve their small purpose of fleshing out the world, but I don't need to see them beyond that. We have Johnny (who, notably, never brings up that his parents are dead) and the Shinra manager as the recurring NPCs from Midgar, don't need more than that.

For characters like Biggs and potentially Jessie or Wedge, I'm more interested in the potential for what they could add to a future story than I am missing the five seconds of "oh that's too bad" I might have felt otherwise. The general mood of "we've failed" that permeates chapters 13 and 14 does more for me than not seeing generic small child again ever would.

EDIT: to get back on topic marginally, the Yuffie DLC is probably going to revisit the plate fall itself as part of its story, so there might be more to say about this topic in a few months.

 

[Makoeyes987]

It's why FFIX's depictions of disasters always felt more horrific and written with emotional depth.

The very fact you see the disaster and pain at a macro and micro scale. And it's more than just the instantaneous shock of the moment and deaths that flash in front of your face. The real emotion doesn't just stem from deaths and loss. It's the tragedy of what's left behind, with the mourners forced to pick up the pieces and move on. There's a cycle to trauma and loss that just doesn't stop at the catastrophic moment. Being able to show what's after for those that remain takes balls and good writing too.

Nuking a city like the Death Star did to Alderaan is a show of power but not necessarily emotional. It's seeing what suffering is left behind that truly makes them feel alive while surrounded by death.

 

[LNK]

to get back on topic marginally, the Yuffie DLC is probably going to revisit the plate fall itself as part of its story, so there might be more to say about this topic in a few months.

I wouldn't be surprised if Yuffie and Sonon were part of why Biggs survived

 

[GuardBreak]

You what's the worst part about the remake's version of the plate incident ? Other than nonsensically showing it being rebuilt in the ending ? It probably wouldn't have happened if it weren't for the whispers.

I feel like I can write a lengthy essay on why I think the original version is better, but I honestly don't care about what people think.

 

[Smoothie King]

That "Press Up" scene and the overall transition it provided was an enormous loss for the story here, I feel. The scene from the original with the captive Avalanche in the President's office could have stayed without sacrificing anything else they wanted to do. If the "Press Up" moment itself was considered too difficult to pull off convincingly with Cloud around, keep the scene of him blacking out near Jenova the same as it is in Remake, then have him come to with everyone already apprehended (this is what I intially thought was happening there).

Barret and the President could then still have their ideological confrontation if Barret momentarily broke free of whatever restraints he was in -- and that would have maybe even allowed the Prez to look a little more in-character by having him not even flinch while under threat. As it is with the remake presentation, he comes off looking weaker than we typically see him presented while Barret comes off looking dumb AF and Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith come off looking unbelievably slow (in terms of speed) to not have kept pace with Barret as he advanced on the retreating President.

That scene with Barret getting taken by surprise and nearly shot by the President (before Sephiroth intervenes) is both dumb as hell and hokey as fuck. How did Barret let him get anywhere near his desk? Why didn't he have his gun-arm trained on him the whole time so that it was at least a standoff? What the hell was the President thinking was going to happen to him after shooting Barret when the dude's got an apparent ex-SOLDIER with him?

Just the dumbest fucking scene in an otherwise amazing assortment of personalities and character interactions.

100% agree with this. The weird thing is, I still think overall the Shinra HQ was an amazing display of AAA gaming. It was an incredible climax to the story of Midgar city. Just that one scene really blew. The drum didn't bother me as much as some; it wasn't particularly compelling but it felt like it fit the aesthetic and wasn't a distraction. I feel like they just wanted an excuse to mess around with Red XIII's character model. I also like that the drum was actually explained. I always wondered what that thing was on the exterior of the Shinra building.

 

[ForceStealer]

Yeah I actually rather liked the Drum, though I imagine it used up all the creepy atmosphere that most would have preferred to be used on the Trail of Blood sequence. But I liked spending time with Red, the PHS Terminals, and that I was set up enough with two parties that I didn't actually have to transfer any equipment around or anything.
But yes that scene made Barret look like a moron, though his dialogue was great.

 

[Smoothie King]

Yeah I actually rather liked the Drum, though I imagine it used up all the creepy atmosphere that most would have preferred to be used on the Trail of Blood sequence. But I liked spending time with Red, the PHS Terminals, and that I was set up enough with two parties that I didn't actually have to transfer any equipment around or anything.
But yes that scene made Barret look like a moron, though his dialogue was great.

That boss fight with Tifa and Aerith in the drum was also incredibly difficult for me. The creature that looked like something found at the bottom of the ocean killed me twice. The more I think about it actually, the Drum was pretty compelling.

 

[Makoeyes987]

The Swordepede.

You know, one of the things you fought in the Shinra Building in the OG as normal enemies. Called Sword Dances.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

There are two people who probably didn't survive the platefall and they are the Shinra Middle Manager's wife and daughter. The game established that he was in Wall Market when the plate fell. I expect SE are keeping something up their sleeve for him in Part II. He must believe Avalanche are responsible for their deaths.

 

[oty]

The Platefall is such a weird part of the Remake for me. At one hand, the buildup to the Platefall is very much neat. I'd say that even the Whispers showing up to stop you from possibly preventing the Platefall (with hindsight of course) doesn't nearly damage the moment as I thought. Then the Reno and Rude battle happens, and it's goddamn marvelous. It truly has become personal.

But then the plate falls....and it's that battle music continuing? And freaking Caith Sith? Oh, and ofc nobody of importance dies. For bloody sake.....

But then Chapter 15 happens. And even with that god-awful 144p texture background, the music, the feels. It's so good. It's definitely one of the most conflicting parts of the Remake for me, alongside the...

Drum. Or rather, the whole Shinra HQ ending segment. My initial impression was: "started out great, ended up bad. In other words: inconsistent". But aside from the Jenova and Rufus fights (that I listen to their soundtracks pretty much almost everyday), I started appreciating other moments from what I previously considered an all together failed moment of the Remake, largely because I believed, and still believe, that they definitely rushed that segment of the game. A playable Red XIII would have certainly made the Drum much more bearable......

Ironically enough, in the OG, I also thought that Shinra HQ was wildly inconsistent. Just the sheer disbelief of "minigame" moments inside the literal Devil's Spawn made me love and hate everything about it. I guess, Remake got it closer to what I felt than expected.

 

[Fiz]

So a bunch of nameless people die, nobody cares, it's never mentioned again, and that's better?

Just to point a thing out. Other than Biggs, Wedge and Jessie, name some OG characters who died during Plate Fall you cared about, who had any substance beyond a few random lines. A Marle or Betty.

There were some named characters who either did die, or likely died during Plate Fall in Remake, Jessies mum being one of them, her father, likely the Shinra employees, some of the NPC's in sector 7 who had lines and we've ever seen again. All of whom have more substance than the OG characters who died. Even in OG most of the deathtoll is implied.

 

[oty]

I'd reckon that, for many, the Platefall in the Remake was mostly better than what was in the OG. The problem isn't that it's not better; it's that it's also, maybe even more, flawed than the original. It's a bit of a double edged sword for the Remake, since the Platefall there is much more catastrophic, and also demonstrated to the player, than in the OG. But they also introduced so many new characters for you to bond, that simply not killing them ends up creating the very own dreaded effect that they didn't want: a lack of impact of the Platefall.

 

[ForceStealer]

In the original, All I really felt "bad" about, emotionally, was feeling for Barret and Tifa. I barely knew Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie, but they were clearly important to him, also his despair and thinking he's lost Marlene, and with Tifa raising the possibility that it's their fault. And this element is something that the Remake nailed. Especially if you get Tifa's night scene on top of the moment between her and Barret immediately after.

 

[Smoothie King]

The Swordepede.

You know, one of the things you fought in the Shinra Building in the OG as normal enemies. Called Sword Dances.

Yep, I remember them from the first game. I was just surprised that such an inconsequential, throwaway enemy from the original would become such a hassle in the Remake!

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

In the original, All I really felt "bad" about, emotionally, was feeling for Barret and Tifa. I barely knew Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie, but they were clearly important to him, also his despair and thinking he's lost Marlene, and with Tifa raising the possibility that it's their fault. And this element is something that the Remake nailed. Especially if you get Tifa's night scene on top of the moment between her and Barret immediately after.

Oddly enough, in the original game, BJW may have hit me harder than Aerith. I'm honestly not sure why, but it's the truth.

Ironically, if they do follow through with the expected thing and kill Aerith in VIIR, I'm going to be gutted despite fully expecting it. I'm not sure how she became my favorite character in the remake, but here we are.

 

[ScotFair]

Hi all. First time poster here. I am one of those people who felt the Plate fall sequence didn't quite land right for them lol For a number of reasons. The first being I just found it hard to take all the bodies lying around seriously when they looked like they could be napping. Same with Biggs and Jessie. I also know what they were going with with Jessie's death but I found her attempts at humour cringy lol I know that is just a personal thing but I can't help rolling my eyes when she asks if Tifa is crying because of something she said. The escape music didn't bother me too much but I do prefer the tone of the OG over it.

Everything after that was amazing, right up to the return to Sector 7. I've heard people say that because where we go is on the border of the two sectors the damage wasn't so bad. I would maybe find that acceptable if I could see the extensive damage beyond where we stand. But if you look by the immediate rubble there isn't much of anything. The skyline should be filled with the broken plate and the buildings that sat on it, but there isn't anything. You can see clear to the wall of Sector 8. When you look down on the sector in the later chapter, despite the low quality, you can see what it is meant to look like. The rest comes down to personal taste and SE aiming for a T rating. Which I understand. But lack of plate damage in the return to Sector 7 really takes me out of it.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

I am one of those people who felt the Plate fall sequence didn't quite land right for them

Everyone in Sector 7 agrees with you.

Welcome to the forum, by the way!

 

[Chocobo Eater]

I had no sympathy for Barret or Tifa during the early parts of OG, even after Platefall. Tifa grew on me a bit as the game went on, but knowing what they did in Reactor 1 and 5 made it difficult for me to feel any kind of sympathy. I didn't like Barret at all until OtWtaS - besides OG Corel, that was the only time I felt bad for him.

Some parts of Remake Platefall were done better than OG, some worse. But I actually felt for Barret and Tifa this time. Not only were they portrayed better entirely, we got to see more JBW and the Sector 7 townsfolk, and all their interactions with them leading up to Platefall. And Barret's reaction after Platefall was so real. Props to his VA.

In Tifa's case, I found it pretty easy to sympathize with her right from the start. They "humanized" her in Remake (more than she already was I guess). In OG, it was never explicitly stated that she was against the bombings, part of the reason I didn't really care for her until later. In Remake, she had second thoughts about joining Avalanche.