Final Fantasy VII Community Playthrough 2015

[Jason Tandro]

I got to Beginner's Hall last night and stopped playing so I could sleep. It's going to take me a while to catch up.

I've been debating whether or not to allow the use of the Defend and Change commands in battle. My instinct is to disallow them, since the challenge is "magic only", but should I then also be prevented from changing rows in the menu between battles? That would seem like taking it a bit far to me. I think I'll adjust the challenge "no physical attacks, no items".

If one wants to be technical "magic only" could relate in terms of how you offensively engage the enemy. In a primarily magical engagement all that changing the rows would do would be putting yourself into and out of danger. In that case, wouldn't it make the most sense to keep everybody in the back row since magical damage is not affected by the row?

As for the Defend command, it's not a game-breaker like it was in FF8 (literally the Defend command in that game was obscenely OP. I think it was said to block 100% of physical and 50% of magical damage). But I would view it as a non-offensive option. That said, you get Barrier magic around Gongaga I think, and Protect can work as an alternate. I never found myself needing to use the Defend command personally.

 

[Ⓐaron]

I'm fine with leaving a week for the next chapter.

A bit behind here, but the way it feels to leave Midgar is pretty much an experience unparalleled in any previous game, and another reason the first disc of this game is my favourite.

Are people's streams available as archives?

 

[Ami]

Are people's streams available as archives?

They should be on Twitch, unsure about Ustream. That is, if the streamer's chosen the option to archive them. But I think they're only available for a limited amount of time.

 

[Ami]

Ok, so I finally finished the first chapter. Hope you're ready for some musings.

Spoiler: Chapter One

Okaaay, here we go! I'm writing this as I go along the chapter.

Totally nostalgic with the opening. I feel like I haven't played this for years... maybe because I haven't. Whoops!

Right, here we go with the mission.

Newcomer, Barret? O rly?

Yep, still annoyed how the enemies run right past Barret...

The controls are relatively familiar. I just realised how you automatically progress to level 7 after the first battle. Wow, never noticed that before.

Ok, setting configuration settings.

I really want to piss around with the names here, but I actually cba for a change. Sticking with the original ones for a change.

Ha, that's right. Barret, step IN Cloud.

Trying hard not to switch the elevator to go back up, I seem to make that mistake every time I play.

Barret's like, "LOOK AT ME, I'M GODZILLA."

I find it slightly annoying that although you find the Restore Materia, you can't actually equip it until a bit later. :/

First boss was easy. Next, please.

Call me a bitch, but I didn't interact with Aerith (definitely keeping her name like that, fuck this Aeris shit). I really want the date with Tifa is all. Well actually, I accidentally did, but I told her to get out of here.

I'm fighting the Shinra soldiers. They ain't got nothing on me!

Aww, poor Biggs. I asked what he had in mind for his future. :/

Also just realising how ridiculous Barret sounds openly announcing the next explosion's going to be bigger at the train station. It's no wonder what happens later just... well, happens.

Going to do a little exploring/levelling up in the train graveyard. Orrr maybe not. Being a little bit naive then, so just going to move on with the story.

Yay, Tifa! Hello, permanent fixture to my party.

Aww, cute little Cloud with a ponytail. I like the flashbacks to him and Tifa in particular.

Now onto the next reactor mission. Think I'm going to grind the characters for a while before I get back to the story.

Ok, so after some grinding, time to get srs...

The reactor mission was quite uninteresting until the boss fight. Got the synchronised thing with Barret and Tifa for the first time. Colour me surprised!

Ok, boss battle time. BARRET GOT 709 DAMAGE FROM HIS LIMIT BREAK. WTAF. I think the random number generator must be broken with him, he's got some critical strikes since acquiring him.

Um, same with Cloud, but with 715 damage. I'm not progressing too far, right? D:

I mean, we have:

Cloud - Level 11
Barret - Level 10
Tifa - Level 10

Scratch that, Barret's now 11 after the boss.

Ohai Aerith, let's make sure your name is correct. There we go.

Ahahaha, one of the enemies had an attack called tentacle.

Aerith got stuck on a walking loop when I was escaping the church through the hole in the roof. First minor glitch of the game, wahey!

All the resemblance to Zack aside, I'm suspicious by how quickly Aerith is to trust Cloud - especially after the whole Turks thing.

"This guy are sick." That is all.

One thing I don't get: Aerith wants to take Cloud to Sector 7 and her mother says it's too late. How do they know it's late if the sky is dark all the time? Obviously forgetting they have clocks.

It's nice to see the very subtle reference to Zack when Elmyra says: "SOLDIER... the last thing Aerith needs to get her feelings hurt again..."

Oh fuck, I didn't get past Aerith the first time. Let's try again...

Ok, nailed it this time. But I wonder where Elmyra is at this point? I find it slightly strange how she's not there when we're sneaking out.

Also I used to think that Aerith had some kind of Ancient power that lets her teleport when I was younger. Still suspicious of this now...

Damn, and I thought I'd get through without a battle before the playground!

Ok, the playground part now. Yes, I want to see you home, Aerith. You're ruining my Cloti experience.

Take a break? For nonsensical crap? I much prefer Aerith in CC than in this game, haha. I must sound so bitter!

Because it's totally normal for two twentysomethings to be hanging out in a playground that's deserted. Yup.

It does make me wonder if she ever told Cloud Zack's name.

Aha, I imagine Tifa's thinking, "Damn, that bitch has my maaan!"

(I totally wish I could record this, but can't because my Elgato is broken. I'll definitely do it for the PS4 port!)

Haha, the moment we all realise it: Cloud's going to cross dress! And so this long mission begins...

Hmm, which medicine to get with this coupon? Ok, got Digestive. I'm going to try this thing I found on Google:
http://www.neoseeker.com/forums/1169/t484022-with-pharmacy-coupon/

Ok, I'm in the club for the first time ever! This is working and so hilarious.

Without any further ado, let's continue with shenanigans...

"How do you put this on!?"

I'm in the same boat, Cloud. I don't really like dresses either. Anyway, time to get to the gym and win this wig!

20 squats in the practice round. Not too shabby.

Time to get this show on the road.

Aha, and 20 squats again! I don't think I'm a combo breaker.

"Walk more nicely like...this. Miss Cloud."

So I went back to the club and just HAD to see the reactions to everyone, haha.

Ok, going to Don's now. I'm really hoping I'll have Cloud be the one to be chosen.

Cloud's wtf when he sees Tifa dressed as he is - brilliant!

"????"

"Cloud!?"

"Why are you dressed like that!? And what are you doing here!?"

Oh God, I'm looking forward to this scene in the remake!

Tifa's really quick to trust Aerith... I wouldn't be so swift myself.

WAT. HE CHOSE AERITH. THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE TO ME. WAT.

I want to hear Cloud speak in a feminine voice saying scrubs. It's a must.

I never really saw the scene between Don and the chosen girl as sexual before. Now that I realise if help didn't arrive when it did, it could've potentially become a rape scene. Lovely...

Just went behind his bed and found Hyper, didn't realise that was there. Did it on a whim, interesting.

Down to the sewers we go!

Ahhh, the infamous Shinra music. I love this theme, wonder how it's going to sound remastered? Presuming they're going to remaster the OST, of course.

Boss battle time, woo. I love this theme, too.

Oh wonderful, the train graveyard. This is going to be fun...

After a few battles, I've finally gained Cross-slash!

So the train graveyard wasn't as bad as I thought. Time for some real action now!

I do like the whole sector 7 part of this game with all the heavy emtoions and fighting for everyone that's inevitably going to die.

Righteo, met up with Barret. Time to see the Turks at their worst. And also kick their arses. Or rather, just Reno.

Fighting him actually didn't seem too bad, it seemed pretty easy.

Ah wait, here's a new discovery. I can go to the menu while Tseng is speaking?

Haha, I want to see Cloud on Barret's shoulder in the remake.

The scene of Sector 7 going down is so tragic and probably one of the first gaming scenes that had my jaw dropped open. Then just seeing the President watching over like a god with his classic music playing in the background? A stroke of genius.

Seeing Barret get angry really lets you see how human he is. You really have to feel for him, he just lost his friends. I can recognise how Sector 7 really is the first major turning point in the game. It really hits home, especially now in a time where terrorism is reported more than you want it to.

"Pull it together, man!" Yep, and you disappear inside of him.

Right, now I'm about to infiltrate Shinra by climbing up this wire. Time to cause chaos and destruction!

Can I just say how much I hate that swinging pole you have to jump onto? It took me 10+ attempts. :/

CREEPY SHINRA MUSIC PLAYS. THE BIG QUESTION LINGERS...

To break in or sneak in quietly?

I usually do both, but for the sake of comedy, let's go for the latter.

Well... I did the latter, but now I'm headed back down through the lift. I didn't want to take the stairs again because it's ridiculous doing it a second time...

After a bit of exploring, it's time to get back to business.

So the coupon room, I've never got all three coupons before. But this time, I'm doing it.

THERE'S AN AIR DUCT!? WAT.

With all three items collected, it's time to sign off and resume my Shinra adventures later! Time to rest. This bed is really cosy, damn Shinra...

 

[Sprites]

I'm gonna start playing from Wednesday when I FINALLY get hold of a copy! I can't wait it might take a bit of time to catch up but I'm looking forward to it

 

[Lex]

Here's my chapter one - strangely, there's a segment that has no audio because of a copyright thing? Which I can't fathom because while some of my game music is replaced with orchestral renditions, they appear in other games. Makes no sense to me. No mic audio on chapter one (hardly anyone was there).

Chapter Two (with no copyright claims even though the same music appears 0_0)

The streams are in 1080, so feel free to fullscreen . I will say I only set a max bitrate of 1500 though, so that people didn't get stuttering while viewing so there's a bit of noticeable compression when the camera moves really quickly in battle.

 

[Mayo Master]

Yay, I'm done with Chapter 2, just saying goodbye to Costa del Sol.

Spoiler: Now, some miscellaneous ramblings...

Flashback at Kalm
I am under the impression that most people around here finds it tedious because it's a long sequence with little interaction which they've been through again and again. I'm not sure how it should be revised for the remake, I would rather think of giving more interaction to the player (like the flashbacks involving Ciri in Witcher 3) rather than make a 10 minutes cutscene. What I actually like about the flashback is the attention to detail, where every bit seems important. For example, I really like the fact that Cloud's Mom asks “Is that a SOLDIER uniform?” and Cloud's answer is actually cut because he cannot recall admitting he was actually wearing the outfit of a regular trooper.
On another note, as I was trying to re-create the Nibel mountains, I realized something was really wrong with that bridge. Someone ought to fix that!



Chocobo farm
I really wonder if the Choco/Mog summon (as well as the chocobo dance going on before the materia is given to you) is going to be remade. I decided to remain conventional and get a chocobo to get past the Midgar Zolom (will that be retconned into Midgardsormr?), even though chocobos were fleeing 90% of the time even before I could toss them some greens!


Fort Condor
Gah, final monster killed my last unit while having 40 HP remaining! Anyway, I really wonder how that quest is going to be remade. Would the mechanics of Brutal Legend be something to follow?


Recruiting Yuffie
Found her on my way to Junon. It's a bit odd, because she joins the party while everybody shows a clear lack of interest. She seems to join because of cartoon reverse psychology. Fair enough, it's fun, but it's quite senseless though.


Junon
First, I'm not sure what should be done with the Mr. Dolphin episode. Although I liked the part where everybody has the idea “High voltage tower, huh... Cloud, we're all counting on you!”.
Then the whole parade in Junon is among the precious episodes which made FF7 so special. For the remake, what I would be hoping for would be the addition of sidequests involving what all the other characters needed to do to sneak aboard the ship. I also wonder if it's the first time I caught a glimpse of Red XIII sneaking in while Cloud has to perform in front of Rufus and Heidegger, it's a really neat detail.


Sailing to Costa del Sol
I'd be looking forward to seeing all the alternate outfits for the remake (Barret in sailor suit)! Will Red XIII still manage to pass for a soldier with realistic rendering...?


Costa del Sol
I think it would be nice if the party could kick back a little in the resort and have a small “breather” episode. Why not include a beach soccer mini-game? Otherwise, I'm still wondering why Hojo is such a hit with the ladies. Or maybe I should stop wondering. Now

 

[Claymore]

Been swamped with work but will be getting into the playthrough and catching up over the weekend.

 

[Lex]

carlie stream

 

[Ami]

Spoiler: Chapter Two

Time to hit chapter two and all that jazz.

I'm behind at this point, but just going to go with the flow. One day, I'll be caught up with everyone else, and all will be fine and dandy. But enough of my bloody rambling, let's discuss this one...

Ok, back on the 64th floor of Shinra. Time to go exploring, whee. Hmm, to try a treadmill or not? Oh, why not? I can walk and run. Yes, of course you can because it's a bloody treadmill.

Cloud, you're tired after 30 seconds? I'm continuing a bit longer. And I quit after the next one. It seems like it doesn't do anything.

So now to do the puzzle pieces of the Midgar city model. Oh boy...

Wait, what? A battle on the 65th floor? I didn't realise this could happen?

Woo, just got Somersault for Tifa!

Time to peek on the meeting...

Yep, always found Hojo creepy and still do.

The way he laughs: CREEEEEEEEEPY.

When Scarlet says something stinks, I always assume it's us up here. Then I realise it's generally the smell of the toilets. Doh.

Let's chase Hojo...

Ouch, got struck by Bolt2 already in a battle. That hurt.

And then we get our first glimpse of Red XIII.

How Hojo and that other guy don't see Cloud is quite miraculous.

I can't wait to see Red in glorious HD in the remake.

Uh oh, creepy music...

See, how would Cloud even know about Jenova with the way his head is messed up? It's literally the first reference we get. And while we're at it, why on earth did it take a while for Tifa and Barret to notice Cloud was in pain? Confused as hell here.

Haha Barret, always dismissing the unexplainable shit.

WAT.

I literally got to the treasure chest, pressed the button and got a battle. That's a first...

Aha, that horrible moment when you think Red's going to attack Aerith... but then the tables turn in our favour.

Barret, I choose you! Use Fire Power!

It's super effective!

The glass broke!

Red used Tackle!

It's super effective!

Hojo got knocked off his arse!

So we got caught. I mean, did we really think it wasn't going to happen this time?

And now we're face to face with the President himself. Such fun.

The whole waking-up-to-everyone-dead is a scene I can't wait to see in the remake. Wonder how bloody it'll be?

Here's something interesting. From the 66th floor and below, everything's normal. It makes me wonder if Sephiroth intentionally slaughtered people above that floor? I would've expected a more bloody rampage when I originally played the game.

Hmm, so decided to go to the 60th floor on a whim. On the left room where you originally snuck through the floor with Tifa and Barret, there are a lot of Shinra soldiers just conversing. I wonder if it's related to the attack or just routine? Either way, you can't go below that floor. Nice to know I've learned something new about this game. Oh yeah, and you can't access the other floors anymore (presuming they took the keycard when you were in custody. But how would they be able to keep their weapons? Pfft, FF logic, eh?).

All these battles seem somewhat annoying, but they're great experience for Aerith, who's been out of action for a little while and easily the weakest character in level.

And the President is dead. That's the next turning point for me. It's a shame he wasn't around longer, I would've liked to have seen a bit more character development with him.

Ah, and here comes Rufus with his swishy hair. Please be swishy in the remake... PLEASE.

I do wonder what happens to Sephiroth's sword after all this Shinra commotion. I bet he comes back for it. You'd think Shinra would hide it away or do SOMETHING with it, but it's not referenced after the incident. Hmm.

"What a crew." Couldn't have put it better, Rufy boy.

YES, HAIR FLICK.

We hear his new appointment speech, whee.

I do wonder why Cloud wants to take care of Rufus... I can't remember now for the life of me.

I can't take Aerith seriously as a leader, sorry.

Yay, gained Mindblow for Barret.

Time to fight Rufus. It's actually one of my favourite boss battles, so looking forward to this. Ha, Rufus mentions not being friends? Hilarious. And I'm starting with a Limit Break, winning!

Like, why is the chopper circling us and why does Rufus keep going, "heh, heh, heh..." Quite irritating tbh.

Ok, that literally took a minute to finish. Maybe I'm maybe overpowered? Wouldn't be surprised.

Ok, just noticed this.

Tifa says, "Where's Rufus?"

Cloud goes, "I couldn't finish 'em." There's more than one Rufus now?

Woo, the motorbike mini game. I like this bit.

That cutscene still looks so fresh. Time to do this!

Time for the boss battle!

Have to love how there's a hook that everyone grabs to get out of Midgar. WHERE WAS THAT BEFORE!?

I love how Barret automatically assumes he'll be the leader. Pfft, sit your arse down.

OH MY GOD, THE WORLD MAP. THIS IS SO EXCITING.

I did think about doing some levelling up, but I'd rather just get to Kalm.

Aaaaaaaaaaaand made it in one piece without a single battle, colour me surprised...

Yeah, I'm gonna go do some shopping before we revisit Cloud's past, kthxbai.

Time for the memories, woo...

Hello, big arse dragon that wipes Cloud out asap. Oh, Sephy brought him back.

I love that Tifa's really quiet throughout the story. It's like she knows something's not right.

Othopedic underwear! Yes, going to tell her it's true.

Heading to the Nibel mountains. Such fun.

That monster is one ugly ass bitch. I wonder if they put down the one that broke free?

Right, headed into the Shinra Mansion with Sephy's episode. Oh boy...

AMG, THE ICONIC SEPHIROTH SCENE WHEN HE WALKS THROUGH FIRE IS TOO AMAZING. THIS IS THEEEEEEE ONE I WANT IN THE REMAKE.

God, I hate watching Sephiroth slice Tifa like she's bread every time... it's horrific. I like how they flick between Cloud and Sephiroth, never openly revealing what happened.

A little cunt of a monster just stole Four Slots from me... and I'll never get back... knew I should've sold it...

MUCH SADNESS.

Haha, just warked at the chocobos and they did their dance with the theme playing.

I might take my chances and beat the Midgar Zolom...

Ok, kinda pissed it ejected Tifa from the battle. Forgot it could do that. :/

So I failed the first attempt. However, I do like that there's no automatic game over and you can try again.

Or at least there is because Tifa's alive...

Ok, attempt #2.

Didn't go well.

Attempt #3.

BEAT IT!

Wait, it comes back? Shiiii-...

Anyway, running across and getting towards more of the story in the meantime.

Great, now to get through the Mythril Mine. This is going to be fun-fun.

Oh hold up, I found the Turks already? That was lucky...

Oh sweet lord, Rude, get it out of your system.

So I've found Fort Condor. Not entirely sure if I want to deal with this part of the game just yet. Hmm, we'll see. I DO need a place to rest, though.

Ok, definitely coming back later. Not too fussed atm.

Ohai, Junon!

Time to beat a boss and revive Priscilla. That little bitch.

Ha, simply amazing. Cloud literally survived on 3HP.

Now time for the CPR mini game. This, I HATE...

Woo, first look at the Highwind. Beautiful. <3

So yeah, the soldier parts were fun. And I completely fucked them up. Well, almost. But I got the Force Stealer, which is orsmpossum!

Oh, Red in Shinra uniform on two legs. MUST SEE THIS IN THE REMAKE!

I NEED BARRET IN A SAILOR'S OUTFIT SCENE IN THE REMAKE. AND OBLIGATORY REFERENCE TO THE YMCA.

JENOVA MUSIC. I LOVE THIS THEME. <3

And first time summoning Shiva. Get that bitch, ice queen!

so the Jenova boss battle wasn't bad. Just had Cloud and Barret attack, while Aerith healed. Nice combo.

Woo, we finally reached Costa Del Sol. It looks lovely, but I have to say that the real Costa Del Sol is far superior and a lot longer.

"You look like a bear wearing a marshmallow." Hahahahahahaha.

Hojo sunbathing. What even.

And that's me done with this chapter. I'm all caught up and definitely need a break after playing this for most of the day!

The next chapter will certainly be interesting, especially as I'm going to try get Yuffie.

 

[Carlie]

Guess who made it pass the Wall Market.

 

[ForceStealer]

Hurray! I keep missing your streams.

 

[Jason Tandro]

Guess who made it pass the Wall Market.

This is a significant moment! Especially if you heard the first TLS podcast and/or are familiar with her history of FF7

 

[Clement Rage]

I'm not even going to try to keep up with you, but here's some thoughts on the first mission.

Ah, LOVELESS, first appearance of many. Wonder if we'll actually get to see some of it in the remake? Doubtful. Moving from Intro cutscene to gameplay was pretty well done.

Cloud disembarks trains needlessly melodramatically. A true SOLDIER at heart.

I'm playing under a 'minimise human deaths' policy (I know, I know, they're pixels) so I'm running away a decent amount, exploring the reactor a lot to look around. Looted the two potions from one train guard, didn't know you could do that.

First boss is actually fairly hard for an intro boss, with a Special Attack and all that, especially when the tutorial help advises you to do exactly the wrong thing. Nothing on me, though.

Bought a flower. Gonna try to be nice to everyone this playthrough, I plan on giving it to Tifa.

Wow there was actually a fair amount of devastation around the reactor, we have overturned cars along with the general debris.

One of my crew stopped to graffiti a wall while escaping the crackdown.

Ran from all soldiers. Pretty efficient crackdown, to be fair.

Cloud also boards trains needlessly melodramatically.

Hello Shinra Manager. Also homeless guy, who must have an epic fake id. Made sure to talk to him.

Thanks for the tour Jessie. So, the plates are attached at the central complex too. Should have been obvious, but good to know.

Aaand we're home. Everyone knows about train guy, but I also like 'Hardass Veteran Gate Guard and 'Rookie Gate Guard' they're a fun intro to Shinra military NPCs. Talking to people in Sector Seven has some extra poignancy given what happens. Hi Johnny!

Like the detail in the kids room on the third floor, skull and crossbones pillow. What's that item on the other bed meant to be. Some damn fine beds, but I'm too cheap to use them. Also like the detail of the guy playing with his dog inside the beginners hall. Back to the pillar to save for now, will enter bar another time.

 

[Carlie]

Hurray! I keep missing your streams.

I'm recording it too with commentary so they'll be on youtube once I edit them.

 

[Carlie]

I be streaming now and you can listen to the commentary here.

 

[Lex]

I will be streaming chapter 3 later tonight (9pm UK time). Chapter 4 will be posted tomorrow, with a one week target rather than the regular 3/4 days due to the optional content and its general length. This also gives people who are lagging behind the time to catch up <3

 

[Lex]

I've decided to stream tomorrow instead. At 7PM UK time. Hope some of you can pop by

 

[cold_spirit]

Here's my musings on chapter 3:

It's been about five years since I last played through FFVII. While I'm just as sharp as I used to be about all the plot points, playing through the game again has brought to my attention how whimsical the smaller details of the story are. By whimsical I mean that the story often whisks away logic and feeds you single sentence explanations. Why are earth would you build an amusement park in the center of a desert? Why wouldn't Red XIII's parents want him to know about his father's sacrifice until he was older? Why does Vincent, an intelligent man who has had years to think in solitude, finally decide to leave his coffin after a mere five minute talk with Cloud? Why does Rufus need the Tiny Bronco to pursue Sephiroth? He has outposts around the world along with helicopters, not to mention the Tiny Bronco only carries one person. Fortunately, these are minor points and serve merely as plot devices.

I feel like this whimsical side of FFVII only works right now because of its graphics. It looks fine to see characters run in and out of Cloud when everything is low polygonal. This is actually one of the reasons I don't use graphical mods for FFVII either. Seeing incredibly detailed models jump clear over the heads of each other with that "whoosh" sound effect is just silly.

I'm really excited to see how the remake will handle all these plot points. I'm one of those people who is all for change, as long as it's tastefully done. I especially think that acquiring Vincent will be a mandatory sidequest, or at least have a little more finesse to grab the player's attention.

Also, the Gold Saucer is awesome. It's a brilliant idea to reuse the mini-games that were probably a pain to code. I also found Barret and Dyne's cutscene to be extremely touching, even if Dyne uses the generic "must destroy everything with me" villain trope.

 

[Lex]

Good to see so many people posting about their chapters, keep it up folks!

Chapter Foar: Where do we go from here?

Chapter Target:

Target Date: 21/07/2015

You've all got a whole week for this one, in part due to all the sidequesty stuff you can do and in part due to the length of it. This should give people time to catch up too.

So we haaaaaaaavvveee - Poss Wutai (which could be a section in itself if you do everything), some backtracking, Gold Saucer dates, Temple of the Ancients, and if you like - Bone Village. We begin the next chapter with you-know-what because of raisins.

Re: my stream, I'm actually without proper internet tonight due to some maintenance or something. I'm posting this from my comp but it's using my phone's internet (hooray for personal hotspot!) which means I can't stream tonight either. So instead of that, I'll do like a whole day-ish (it'll be long anyway) stream either tomorrow or the following day covering both chapter 3 and chapter 4.

ADDITIONALLY, I'm going away for a week on Saturday. Which means I'll be back the following Saturday, and there are two chapters to cover next week. Someone needs to take over - Flint may do it, but I know he's super busy also so any volunteers?

 

[Mayo Master]

Spoiler: ”Chapter 3 ramblings...”

Chasing Sephiroth

• Something that occurred to me: while you're chasing after Sephiroth, why does everybody refer to him as “a man in black cape” instead of just “Sephiroth”? He seemed to have been really famous before his apparent demise (hell, little kids from back-country villages know of him), and it doesn't make sense to me that people would not recognize him, or even simply say “someone looking a lot like legendary soldier Sephiroth”.

Corel Mountains

• Looking forward to seeing the landscapes of the Corel mountains in the remake. I've always like these environments. Well, it would make more sense to have straight railtracks, not roller-coaster ones
• I've been having the impression that there's an inconsistency between the locations of Corel vs. North Corel vs. Desert prison. More specifically, when Barret later tells his backstory, the corresponding environments look a lot like those pictured in the Desert Prison. Additionally, it turns out that “North Corel” is located at the south of the Corel Mountains. It feels like something doesn't add up.
• The Corel incident from Barret's backstory may be retconned to incorporate some elements from Before Crisis

Gold Saucer

• Having Cait Sith joining the party is really made in a very awkward, far fetched manner. Wouldn't mind them changing that in the remake.
• All the gil-wasting machines from the Wonder square fit the mood so well. Really liked how they convey the tourist trap/scam feel in there. Such as the “Fortune-telling machine. Pay 50 gil. Result: Use caution in your relationships”
• I think it would be fun if many mini-games from the Wonder square would be... still rendered in PSOne style! It would convey the idea that the world has its own stage of technological development regarding video gaming, which may not match our own.
• In my opinion, the whole jig in the Desert Prison is the weakest element in the entire story. First, how did Dyne get here in the first place? Why did Barret get wrongly accused of the murders in the Gold Saucer, which should have been elucidated with basic video surveillance? why would Cloud et al. be thrown in the prison with Barret? And mostly why the hell would a victory at a chocobo race grant freedom? None of this makes sense, at this point it's not a plot hole, but a plot chasm (or a plot cenote if you're Mexican). I hope that part gets really revised in the remake.

Gongaga

• Liked the interlude with the Turks. Also, I wish for a mini-quest in the remake where you'd eventually tell Zack's parents about the fate of their son. They need closure.

• Frog battles on the way to Canyon Cosmo how about that in the HD remake?

Canyon Cosmo

• When going through the cutscene of Bughenhagen's planetarium, I was wondering something about the remake concerning technological consistency. A lot of the OG conveyed the feel that the level of technology in the world of FF7 was similar to that of our own... back in 1997. So what will be the take of the remake? Will it be similar to current (2017-ish) technology, with smartphones everywhere and flat screens for computers, or would it recall the early times of cell phones which would look like walkie-talkies and fat CRT monitors? Will Bughenhagen's planetarium be a spectacular feel of cutting-edge CG visuals, or would it show a basic video with PS One (or PS2) graphics? I suppose the earlier would happen, but it would be fun to have some kind of retro-futuristic feel.
• Red XIII's quest in Canyon Cosmo fits well the idea of the “coming of an age” story... well, I still wonder why everybody was remaining silent about Seto's role in keeping the Gi tribe at bay, unless the whole point was to piss Nanaki off for his entire childhood.

Nibelheim

• I actually believe that the idea of remaking the town as identical to what it was before the incident was a way to justify the recycling of the field screens for the environments, because story-wise it doesn't really make sense. All what Shinra needed to do for the cover-up of the Nibelheim incident would have been a media coverage reporting “a terrible accident” which created a devastating fire which ravaged the entire town, despite the early dispatch of the rescue team (*cough* Hojo *cough*)
• First mention of the reunion, with the black cloaked guys hanging around. Can be made in a very unsettling way. I'm retrospectively surprised that Cloud didn't have a “freak-out” session when coming that close to Sephiroth/Jenova.
• The safe in the Shinra mansion: when I played it first, it took me forever to find the 3rd number because the corresponding message had been very badly translated (I was playing the French version – which resulted from a poor translation from the English :S ): instead of saying “steps” it was mentioning “notches”.
• Love the details in the reports that you can read in the basement lab of the Shinra mention, with Escapee A and Escapee B. Finding the glass of the pods with finger scratches saying “let's get out of here” add the right touch of creepiness, especially if we know that's where Cloud was held for so many years.
• Wow. I had Tifa and Yuffie in the party when waking up Vincent, and when he told his tale Yuffie was all like “most boring story EVER”. It's awesome how bratty she is (although the other party members must be thinking “why did we recruit her again?”). Oddly enough I find that her personality has been very consistent throughout the compilation.

The Nibel mountains

• Such bleak environments... I'm looking forward to seeing that environment in the remake. One cool addition would be a maze-like series of paths, where you would actually need the help of a guide (aka Tifa) to get through. Again crossing that impossible bridge... Checked out the reactor for nothing... and the boss of the area nearly wiped me out

Rcoket Town

• On to Rocket town. “Sit your ass in the $%^chair and drink your goddamn tea!” Please, keep Cid as foulmouthed in the remake! Wonder how the $%^ and *@!# are going to be translated into though. Rufus request for taking the Tiny Bronco seems weird, if you think about it. Shinra ought to have a number of aircrafts already at their disposal. Anyway. The boss fight vs Palmer and its epilogue are great. The Tiny Bronco cutscene relied too much on cartoon physics. So did the Shinra #26 rocket launch, too (if a rocket falls from its launch pad, it rather looks like this

• Anyway, now everyone's on board at last!

 

[Clement Rage]

Okay, bar, time, promise flashback. Gave flower to Tifa, gave the nice reply to everyone.
There's some beautiful foreshadowing in this part of the game, little things like Tifa asking Cloud if he's okay. Wonder how many people thought Marlene was Cloud's kid on the first playthrough.

Nibelheim namedropped by Johnny's Dad, talking about a reactor incident.

Back on the train, and the alarms have gone off. Some fun dialogue all across here if you hang around long enough, homeless guy gives you a phoenix down and tells you to revive him with it later. Just don't get mugged.

Is it just me, or do we revisit these locations at the end of disc 2? Not just the winding tunnel, other parts too.

And we're in the reactor. Did a decent job putting a new spin on a similar design.

I'll say this for the Prez, he can make an entrance. Lot's of subtle things in the dialogue, can't remember an ex SOLDIER named Cloud. Airbuster attacks.

And I fall. Ow.

Elected to be nice to Aeris.

Why does Reno expect Cloud to know him? They've never met.

And he orders his subordinates to shoot the target he's been ordered to bring in alive.

In line with my spare human life policy, I order Aeris to run from two soldiers and drop a barrel on the middle one.

Escape across the roof and... Save.Until next time, folks.

 

[Kionae]

Eeee.... I have some catching up to do. Had family in town all week, so I've only just left Costa del Sol...

 

[Ami]

I'm still a little bit after Nibelheim myself. Need to get back into this soon, still hoping to catch up as well. I'll probably just binge out today and see how far I can get.

 

[Ami]

Spoiler: Chapter Three

All right, chapter three time. I said I was taking a break - and I did... for about two hours - but I'm continuing.

Switched Barret and Aerith out for Tifa and Red. The former were my party since leaving Kalm, but things need to be mixed up a bit to get more different choices of dialogue and such. Plus, I'm quite OCD about the levels being more or less the same.

D'aww, I always liked the guy that you spoke to who saw Sephiroth. I'll be sure to send warm greetings to them, good sir!

So we're getting nearer Corel now. I guess this is where we learn more about Barret. And forgive me, but it's been like 10+ years since I last played this game (mid-teens, still in secondary school. Brrr!).

There's an attack called Spiky Hell from a monster. Thought that was Cloud?

Woo, just learned the Ice2 and Bolt2 spells. Nice!

Now we're in Corel and Barret. Oh God, I feel so sorry for him.

It's really interesting to see Barret in a pre-AVALANCHE flashback. You can tell he's the same, but only calmer.

Time to head to the Golden Saucer and lose all our monies, yay!

Oh wait... CAIT SITH! I forgot we could recruit him here.

I'm totally hearing his Scottish accent from AC right now, haha.

"What you pursue will be yours. But you will lose something dear." Talk about foreshadowing...

Playing the Super Dunk game now and I haven't missed a shot? Does this mean the GP keeps increasing? Does it end when I miss a shot? Well, best to continue to find out then, eh?

Ok, totally missed that now. Haha, only because I was typing...

Tried the fortune game and it said, "Take caution in relationships." I'm sincerely wondering what it means.

Reached Battle Square, seen the dead soldier and Cloud's rushing inside. More dead soldiers. Oh dear.

And now we're in Corel Prison chasing Barret. Such fun!

Finally caught up to him, had the necessary flashback and we're not letting him deal with his shit alone. Friendship circle hug, anyone?

I forgot how much I hated the desert...

Whoa, almost got beaten by a Desert Worm. Barret has 4HP left and lands the killing blow! WHAT EVEN.

Ooh, bumped into a Cactaur and scored 10,000 gil for beating it. Nice.

I've seriously lost count how many battles and loading screens I've been through now trying to find Dyne...

It's sad to see how Dyne's story ends, but it happens. :/

So the first chocobo race went horrendously. Lovely.

Woo, finally got the buggy!

Now time to go hunt down Yuffie.

So Yuffie's been recruited, yay. Time for Gongaga...

Wait, I thought you couldn't get battles in the buggy? Or is my memory bad? D:

Reno and Rude have been beaten. Acquired the Titan materia. Everything is orsm.

Zack's name uttered for the first time by his parents. Suspicions tingle when Tifa says his name. Oh dear.

Ooh yes, Deathblow materia!

And finally reached Cosmo Canyon, one of my favourite places in the game. It's beautiful. And that theme, just oh... <3

Aww, Bugenhagen! Easily one of my favourite characters, too. <3

The philosophy of the planet is fascinating. You'd never think FF could go in this deep, but it does.

I like how the music fades out when you're heading to that place with Bugenhagen and Red. It makes it sound so serious.

Yay, got Lunatic High for Red!

And that's Waterkick acquired for Tifa.

The boss battle was a bit harder than I remember, probably because of those nasty fire things with the boss itself. :/

D'aww, the story of Seto actually reminds us how who we perceive to be cowards might actually be heroes and risk it all to protect everyone they love. It's a bittersweet story.

Oho, it's time for Nibelheim. Bloody hell...

It's fascinating to see how we could be led to believing Cloud made the whole story up.

All right, headed into the Mansion and getting Vincent. Let's do this.

So I didn't get the key on the first attempt, but did on the second! Ohai, Lost Number. Long time, no see.

Oh fuck, I got my first Game Over ever.

I don't think I saved whatsoever before coming here...

SHIIIII-...

Guess I got too cocky, eh?

Ffs, let's do this. All over again.

I think I was at Cosmo Canyon? Going to be grumpy for a bit...

Oh boy, yes. At Cosmo Canyon. I'm so kicking myself now. SAVE MORE OFTEN, AMI. STUPID BINT.

So after like a night and a half (in which a night is actually just a few hours after work), I managed to acquire Vincent and I'm headed into the Nibel mountains. Woohoo. I can't believe Vincent is level 30, yeesh! That's the level Cloud is right now...

And that's the Runeblade acquired. The mountains are so long - did I ever mention how much I hate them?

Oh, that bridge again. Wow, Shinra really made everything exact, eh?

...except that the bridge holds out. Great investment!

Gone to check out the reactor to see if anything's different. Nada.

Hello, here's a Dragon that wiped out Cloud five years ago.

Ok, boss time! Materia Keeper, right? Meh, too easy.

Back on the world map now without the buggy. :/

But on the bright side, Rocket Town!

Just met Shera and Rufus is a-comin'. Oh boy...

CID'S THEME! <333

Enter one of my favourite characters of the game. I absolutely LOVE Cid.

"Shut up! Sit your ass down in that chair and drink your goddamn TEA!" Hahahaha. I love that line.

It's simply amazing how much courage Palmer's had since meeting him when the President died to now.

I love how he's also knocked by the plane and ran down by a lorry. Hilarious stuff.

After a crash landing into the water and finding out Dio bought the Keystone, I'm at the end of the chapter finally.