*from liek 50 pages ago @ Zack appearing to Cloud*
I had a friend theorize that Zack was able to appear to Cloud during the Sephy fight because of the Negative Lifestream surrounding the area -- that since Zack was a SOLDIER and contained a (probably higher than normal) amount of Jenova cells, he 'defaulted' to being part of Sephiroth's Lifestream. It would explain why he didn't appear to Cloud sooner and wasn't in Case of Lifestream White, either.
That's just a plucked-from-thin-air theory.
Anyway...
TresDias said:
—Four different versions of the Nibelheim reactor fight (one each in FFVII, BC, CC, and LO)
We hashed that in another thread, I think. And we didn't agree there either, so
—The original game referred to the JENOVA Project as Professor Gast's project, with Hojo even implying that Gast was still there when Lucrecia was injected with JENOVA cells. The Ultimania Omega for the original game also says this outright (pg. 210). However, CC, its Ultimania, and DC all leave the impression that Gast resigned from his position well before that point, with Hojo in charge of all the research and experimentation that led to Sephiroth's birth
I never got that impression from CC, and didn't pay enough attention in DC to have gotten that. The only thing I remember in CC about it was that Hojo mocked Gast for believing Jenova was an Ancient, and called it "an unenlightened era".
—Why was Hojo unable to confirm the existence of the WEAPONs until visiting
the Northern Crater when there's one in the cave in Banora, a place where
Shin-Ra had been mining?
I dunno, Emerald looks pretty stone-like and non-green. Perhaps they thought it was a statue, or it was still half-buried? You don't see very much of it considering how big it is.
A bigger question would be what is it doing in Banora's underground in the first place, if all the WEAPONs including Emerald shoot from the Northern Crater in FF7 after Cloud flips his shit and gives up the Black Materia? Of course, it's possible that maybe the Planet moves them from time to time to keep them from being discovered, or moves them to where they might be needed in the future as a precaution. It could have been absent at the time Shinra was mining in Banora.
—The Ultimania Omega for FFVII says that Aerith met Zack while selling flowers (pg. 31), while she hasn't started doing that yet when she meets him in CC. Granted, this is a discrepancy between CC and a guidebook published by Square Enix rather than a discrepancy between CC and the original game itself, but it still demonstrates a lack of attention to detail on someone's part
Lack of attention to detail, but awfully tiny.
—Though this is yet another guide discrepancy, this time it actually does
contradict the original game, as well as the FFVII Ultimania Omega. In the
Crisis Core Complete Guide, the "S-Cells" entry of the Keyword Collection (pg.
286) refers to Cloud as a failed Sephiroth copy -- despite the original game
and the FFVII Ultimania Omega (pg. 213) making it clear that he was not
Hojo calls him a failure though, even during the Northern Crater/Black Materia event when he asks to see Cloud's number tattoo. Perhaps it was referring Cloud being a
precieved failure? It wasn't until FF7 that Cloud proved to be a successful clone.
—Another guidebook discrepancy is that Zack's year of birth is listed as 1984
in the Crisis Core Ultimania (pg. 12), but is listed as 1985 in the FFVII 10th
Anniversary Ultimania (pg. 82). This was likely just a typo in the latter
-- as Zack is supposed to have been 23 at the time of his death in the year
0007 according to the same book's profile (pg. 85) -- but all of these
inconsistencies begin to add up and discourage one's confidence in the
application of quality assurance
Sounds like a typo.
They do happen, and sometimes even a fine-toothed comb misses them.
—Yet another guidebook inconsistency: The Crisis Core Complete Guide claims in its Keyword Collection that Aerith's father, Gast Faremis, deserted Shin-Ra after realizing that JENOVA wasn't an Ancient -- and that Ifalna "escaped with him" to Icicle Inn. The Ultimania Omega for FFVII, however, states twice that Ifalna was a local at Icicle Inn, whom Gast met after moving there to conduct new research (pp. 59 and 210).
I don't really think these guidebook issues really support the idea of Crisis Core itself having so many inconsistancies.
This feels like a strike against the UO because -- how did Gast discover Jenova wasn't an Ancient if he hadn't met Ifalna, and what reason would Hojo have to seek them out if he didn't know Gast had left with a real Ancient? Though the issue itself can still be explained away as Gast and Ifalna splitting up after leaving Shinra and planning to rendevous at Icicle Inn at a later date.
—In the original, Cloud and Zack planned an escape from the Shinra Mansion at feeding time. In CC, Zack apparently broke the glass of his containment tube during a bad dream, and then used the opportunity to escape
I can't find the original FF7 scene of this right now, so I'm going on memory. The scratched messages in the tubes to eachother would indicate that Cloud had still been conscious at the time the feeding time escape was planned, which is not the case when they actually do manage escape. The feeding time may have been a failed attempt from before -- but again, I can't remember fully what the original FF7 scene entailed, so I'm not sure.
—In the original game, Zack dresses Cloud in a SOLDIER 1st Class uniform after they leave Nibelheim; here, they start to leave Nibelheim, then go back to the mansion before they reach the exit; back at the mansion, Zack redresses Cloud
Where the hell would Zack get a SOLDIER uniform after leaving Nibelheim?
—In the original game, Cloud is left to die by the soldiers who kill Zack.
They assume he'll expire on his own. In CC, they don't see him at all because
Zack had hidden him
Where does it say that? All that's shown in the CC ending is Zack depositing Cloud by some rocks, and then next we see him he's crawling in the mud to Zack.
—Tseng, Reno and Rude now have a rather extensive past with Cloud, courtesy of LO, CC and BC, yet none of them mention it in the original game, despite their guilt over turning him over for experimentation in BC and then pursuing him after he and Zack escaped
Reno: *yells across the sector* YO TSENG! I FOUND THAT GUY WE EVADED ORDERS TO TRY TO SAVE! WANT ME TO INVITE HIM FOR PIZZA?
—Genesis, Angeal and Sephiroth all have public fan clubs in CC, yet Genesis only disappears from the public eye a few years before FFVII begins. Despite this, the G Reports from DC tell us that "all records of this man's [Genesis] existence have been deleted," and that the only memory of him is the letter "G" ... like people aren't going to remember. It even goes so far as to say that "there is so little information on 'G' that his existence might be a fabrication." Completely nonsensical
This one is dumb as hell, I entirely agree.
—Zack's uniform is purple in BC and the original game (he was already 1st Class by then and had the Buster Sword); it was changed to black in LO and CC, along with all 1st Class uniforms, while Zack's purple outfit was a 2nd Class uniform unique to his use
I chalk this one up to artistic license, as well as why Zack doesn't wear a helmet in CC -- they want him to be a speshul snoflaek. And recognizable to the player, in the same way Cloud, when they first set out for Nibelheim at the Shinra Building, isn't wearing a helmet either.
—The Turks' uniforms were all blue in the original game, but now they've been
changed to black in all pre-original appearances. The black wasn't that weird
in AC since it came after, and also wasn't a plothole as a result. Its
presence in CC, BC and LO, however, is
Also artistic license. Although, Turk!Vincent from DC is wearing a suit that looks kind of a blue-gray instead of black.
—In BC, Tseng and the Turk who find Zack and Cloud shortly after their escape from Nibelheim have a lengthy conversation on the phone, during which the Turk tells him that they have escaped and that Zack is one of them. This prompts Tseng to tell the Turk to return to headquarters (essentially meaning he was letting them go for the time being); in CC, the Turk in this situation (Cissnei) just phones Tseng, says that the targets have eluded capture and then hangs up, deciding alone to let them go. Furthermore, in BC, the Turk who finds them has an actual fight with Zack, but in CC, Cissnei doesn't
BC sucks. Full stop.
Wasn't there an LTD going on at one point?