Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge's Roles in the Remake Thread

[LNK]

At the current point in time only weirdos like you and I really care about the AVALANCHE gang, Jairus. It's in the post-Remake world that I expect them to start seeing more love, not now. It's only natural that the initial marketing push is based around what people remember from the original, the landscape will surely change once people have experienced this new version of the story they grew up with.

GIVE ME THE JESSIE PLAY ARTS, SQUARE. GIVE IT TO MEEEEEE

Whoa Whoa Whoa, I like them too! haha

 

[Odysseus]

So were weirdos now? Nice.

You know it

 

[Jairus]

Ah, sorry for suggesting that you were! I only brought it up because it was a pattern of conversation earlier in the thread where you seemed to have difficulty reconciling with the fact that you're largely in the minority with your opinions on Jessie! Just don't want you to take it personally. <3

I reckon they're not marketing more than the main 4 because a) they're largely drawing in folks for the nostalgia and those are the characters you would have spent the most significant time with in the OG and b) to suggest to potential players that The Trio™ is on equal footing with The Main Four™ would be dishonest.

lol yeh he's a champ!

It's alright, fancy, and I guess I can understand your point about the main 4. I wasn't saying for them to suggest that they'd be on equal footing, just that they'd have some significance. I wouldn't expect them to be included in everything, but I don't think it would hurt to include them in a few marketing-type things outside the trailers, is all - teasing their expanded roles and development, as it were. They just gave President Shinra and Heidegger a combined bio mini-vid on the twitter feed the other day, for example, so it might nice to see one for each member of the trio or one for all of them together. Hopefully we'll get something like that soon.

And Ody, we're not weirdos, we just know which way the wind's gonna blow and where the real love of FF7R Part 1 is, hehe.

+1 for PAK figures for the trio, too! Who knows, maybe after the remake hits they'll actually get them if the gang has enough of an impact on people and their popularity grows enough.

 

[LNK]

It's alright, fancy, and I guess I can understand your point about the main 4. I wasn't saying for them to suggest that they'd be on equal footing, just that they'd have some significance. I wouldn't expect them to be included in everything, but I don't think it would hurt to include them in a few marketing-type things outside the trailers, is all - teasing their expanded roles and development, as it were. They just gave President Shinra and Heidegger a combined bio mini-vid on the twitter feed the other day, for example, so it might nice to see one for each member of the trio or one for all of them together. Hopefully we'll get something like that soon.

And Ody, we're not weirdos, we just know which way the wind's gonna blow and where the real love of FF7R Part 1 is, hehe.

+1 for PAK figures for the trio, too! Who knows, maybe after the remake hits they'll actually get them if the gang has enough of an impact on people and their popularity grows enough.

I wouldn't be surprised if there was PAK figures for them (at least Jessie). Especially after they did one for Cindy in ff15 (I would've rather had Ravus or Ardyn)

 

[Odysseus]

I just have so many figures of the main cast, I want some variety dang it.

 

[LNK]

I just have so many figures of the main cast, I want some variety dang it.

Shit, for marketing, I think they should anyway. Maybe for part one, they could do Cloud, Barret, Tifa and Jessie (at least)

 

[looneymoon]

the red xiii erasure has me shook. discrimination based on species is v uncool u_u

 

[TifaxCloud]

I Stan Tifa and Cloud for life but when Jessie aske dif they were close...I was kinda rooting for her ngl.

 

[Jairus]

That's fine, and I like Tifa too - one can be a multishipper, after all, and I've always preferred Cloti for an endgame ship. Nothing wrong with liking Clessie at the same time for early game, too. What's ngl mean, though? I don't think I've seen that one before.

 

[Odysseus]

What's ngl mean

"not gonna lie"

 

[Elisa Maza]

I think many more will jump on the Clessie truck once the Remake is fully out; she's SUCH a cutie and she appeals to the audience a lot. Get it, Jessie.

That having been said, it wouldn't surprise me if her (and Wedge's and Biggs') role has the same place in the narrative structure as Aerith's death; the "lowest point" of the three-arc structure, which, I have to say, was the foundation of the original story. So, in the first part of the Remake, you spend a lot of time with her, you go to her house to meet her parents and have dinner (Kitase spoiled that in his interview... does it count as spoiler now? ), you bond with her, is what I'm saying. And then, the plate falls. It's the Lowest Moment, the Disaster. You get out of it when you realize you need to save Aerith... almost as if it's her time now that Jessie is gone. Clue the fight to save her, the twist with seeing JENOVA and the hook for the next part; Sephiroth. I expect Aerith's death to be around the same time with the Plate falling and killing off Jessie; the Disaster.

Of course, Jessie is an NPC while Aerith is a main character, so they operate on different levels of importance. Still, I wouldn't be surprised if this parallel plays out.

 

[Jairus]

That's kind of what I've been thinking they're doing, Eliza - with Midgar being an entire game and Jessie already having existing parallels to Aerith (she's interested in Cloud, is the same age, and like Aerith, has a period of forced separation from him before seeing him again just before she dies), it makes sense to let her have Aerith's role in that regard for Part 1, and while the entire trio's loss will hit hard, I think hers will be the hardest of the three. And I think SE knows it and loves twisting the knife by making her so pretty and likable and having us all emotionally invested in her. I'm both dreading and anticipating that moment in the pillar - I want to see it but I don't, since I want to go further in the game but I don't want to have to say goodbye to her, either. But I know it's inevitable.

One key difference between Jessie and Aerith, as far as their ends go, is that Cloud didn't have the chance to talk to Aerith before she died. Sephiroth killed her in front of him and that was it. But with Jessie, Cloud did have the opportunity to have a last exchange with her, which is something I think SE will take full advantage of to really add to the moment.

 

[Elisa Maza]

Yeah, I can see Cloud going to her house and having dinner with her family being the equivalent of Cloud and Aerith go on the date in Gold Saucer. A moment of "romance" (meeting the girl's family/go on a date in a gondola with fireworks) before death comes.

Not that I think this parallel will cheapen Aerith's loss, or make it less impactful. She'll forever be more memorable than Jessie. But, parallels like these can also add an oomf to storytelling. In the first part, you had a girl that was interested in you, you met her parents, things were seemingly going well... and then she dies and you get shocked. A feint! A misdirection!

And in part 2 (or whenever Aerith dies) history repeats itself, you go out on a date with a brunette that fancies you and JESUS CLOUD ATTACKED HER AND SHE LEFT BY HERSELF??? And having Jessie in mind, you go and as a player you expect to change history THIS time, it won't repeat itself, you'll save her... only for it to happen AGAIN and WTF how why?

And then you go for the third girl and you're comatose and she reveals that you're not as great as you believed to be, but she loves you anyway and you ended up being saved by the girl this time... until the VERY end, when she falls and you finally manage to catch her and save her.

And... nice fanfic-y meta I wrote there. Ahem. Apologies.

{...} and while the entire trio's loss will hit hard, I think hers will be the hardest of the three. And I think SE knows it and loves twisting the knife by making her so pretty and likable and having us all emotionally invested in her.

Speak for yourself, pal. My heart already bleeds for idealistic, friendly, chubby Wedge.

One key difference between Jessie and Aerith, as far as their ends go, is that Cloud didn't have the chance to talk to Aerith before she died. Sephiroth killed her in front of him and that was it. But with Jessie, Cloud did have the opportunity to have a last exchange with her, which is something I think SE will take full advantage of to really add to the moment.

I find details like this one not all that important, tbh. At least for me. My interest has always been in story structure, arcs and parallels in broad strokes. Then again, I'm not a writer, so...

 

[Jairus]

No need to apologize, you did fine, and I totally agree with that approach. And I'm sure Wedge's end will be plenty sad and emotional, too. Maybe Cloud will finally give him that thumbs up he wanted by then. It would be a nice way of showing Cloud's character growth and the change in how he's come to see the trio.

And I share your interest in story structure, etc. I just also like when things contrast as well, since it provides more storytelling opportunities than you might otherwise have. And while Aerith does have history and playability going for her, I think the remake will make Jessie memorable in her own right as well. Obviously in not quite the same way, but still far more than she was in the original.

 

[Jessie Rito]

Im going to cry... Several times... While watching them pass away in multiple languages... Im not ready >^<

 

[LNK]

Im going to cry... Several times... While watching them pass away in multiple languages... Im not ready >^<

More than likely I will too. I'm a 6'5, fully tattooed athlete, who people think doesn't cry. I'm a big softy when it comes to emotional things though

 

[Jessie Rito]

Our band director kinda behaves like barret and is like really tall (maybe he isnt but im justa 5'2 maximum girl lol) and he is the biggest softie i know (kinda became a father figure to me) so i dont think people should be judged on their looks about that stuff ^^°

 

[Jairus]

You know, I just realized that with what was revealed in that interview, SE has added (knowingly, I'm sure) another parallel between Jessie and Aerith on top of what they already had - just as Cloud meets Aerith's mom later on (and did in the OG), now he'll also meet Jessie's parents. I think it's fairly possible that SE may be going at least somewhat along the path you laid out, Eliza, with the parallel story arcs between the two girls. I hope so, anyway.

 

[Jairus]

I know I've mentioned this before, but it's been on my mind again lately. Helping Jessie in the reactor didn't really feel like saving her life to me. It never felt like she was in any immediate danger. Let me define "immediate danger" in the following way so it's clear what I mean:

If not helped within the next five seconds, serious injury or death will occur.

That clearly wasn't the case with Jessie in the reactor. She was pinned down, but nothing was threatening her, and neither was that part of the catwalk about to collapse or more debris falling around her. Nothing to put her in immediate danger as I defined it. It felt very underwhelming for a moment where Cloud's supposedly saving her life. Having a swarm of monodrives closing in on her while's down, forcing to you fight them first to get to her, would have created a better sense of her being in real danger. Or having more chunks of debris falling all around her, some just narrowly missing her, with Cloud dodging it to reach her, would have done that as well and made it feel like you really were saving her life instead of just helping her out of a jam.

Compare Cloud's rescue of Jessie in the reactor to say, him catching Tifa on the stairs later on - there's a big difference in the feel of the moment and what you're doing. With Tifa, it definitely feels like you're saving her life, but with Jessie in the reactor, not so much even though that's what Cloud's supposedly doing for her. I just wish they would've had Jessie in more danger so helping her wouldn't feel all ho hum compared to catching Tifa later. And I feel that Jessie's rescue was deliberately made to be less intense because she's not a "main" character. Also, after helping Jessie, Barret tells Cloud to look after her, but you fight no enemies on the way to meet him, so there's nothing to protect her from. But there should've been, to give meaning and relevance to Barret's command.

I only hope that at some point in the game, Cloud has the chance to truly rescue Jessie out of real immediate danger, something more substantial than just lifting up a rock.

 

[Makoeyes987]

I'm confused as to why you want Jessie to be in more immediate danger.

I thought the way they handled her moment of being pinned was effective. It was a nice callback to the OG but also didn't make her appear too much like a damsel in distress. She still remained competent and not just sitting there with her foot stuck, crying for help. Considering she's a skilled operative with experience in explosives and infiltration, what's to be gained having her be more damsel-y? I much prefer her portrayal as not needing Cloud to save her, but more to help her.

 

[Jairus]

For a couple reasons. First, Tifa - who is just as strong, skilled, and independent - still needs Cloud to save her later on on the stairs. So being what she is has nothing to do with her situation. The same could have been true of Jessie. Second, Jessie specifically tells Cloud later that he saved her life, but helping her get unpinned does not feel like he's doing that. If that's what he's supposed to be doing, it should feel that way. That if Cloud doesn't act in the next five seconds, she's dead. But that's not what that moment felt like, so it didn't feel like he was saving her life.

 

[Odysseus]

You have some odd fixations, you know? I really don't see why that matters. Reactor is gonna blow -> Jessie gets stuck -> Cloud helps -> Jessie is grateful. That seems good enough? Its not like a little fall is gonna kill Tifa, anyway. I'm not saying there aren't going to be more scenarios where Cloud has to assist her, there probably will be, but I don't want Jessie to just be some damsel in distress either.

 

[Jairus]

That's not what I'm talking about - I don't want her to be a damsel just because. And if Tifa had fallen when the chopper was shooting up the stairs, she would surely have been killed given how high they likely were by that point. And Cloud, Jessie, and the rest weren't expecting the entire reactor to go up. Their bomb only took out the core, like it was designed to. It didn't even scratch the walls, really. So their panicking about getting out seemed a little odd to me when they must've known or figured their bomb wouldn't be enough to take out the whole reactor or even the room it went off in. I just would have liked her to be in just as much danger as Tifa was in on the stairs and the moment be just as intense so it actually feels like you're saving her life. Bottom line is, she told Cloud he saved her life, so the moment should feel like he saved her life.

 

[Odysseus]

Well, the entire place was falling apart thanks to the damage caused in the fight with the Scorpian Sentinel, so there were other reasons to want to gtfo besides the bomb. Imagine if the catwalk she was on had fallen, for instance. She'd be pretty dead in that event. Also, even if she wasn't in literal mortal peril at the time, it was certainly a high stress moment. I don't think her saying that cloud saved her life is that much of a stretch.

 

[Jairus]

But no indication was given that the catwalk she was on could fall at any moment. If such an indication was given (like having it creak or tilt under them), then that would have been better, but that didn't happen. Also, compare lifting the rock to catching Tifa on the stairs. Which one actually feels like you're saving a life?