Man, a big beef I have with this game are two things...

[pESCAbAdA]

Hmm, I've never seen that artwork but they didn't look like that in the game. I just googled a picture of Kunsel who was 2nd class and his uniform is definitely a lot more purple than the one in that picture. And why would Zack be special? Yes, he had more potential than many of the other SOLDIERs but only 1sts are allowed to wear whatever they want. It just doesn't make sense considering what we know about SOLDIER.

 

[Cat Rage Room]

And why would Zack be special? Yes, he had more potential than many of the other SOLDIERs but only 1sts are allowed to wear whatever they want. It just doesn't make sense considering what we know about SOLDIER.

It's just 'one of those things' that allows the player to differentiate Zack from the rest, and like Mako said, it was a design choice. I don't think canonically, Zack's uniform was different than the rest. Just use suspension of disbelief.

 

[Tetsujin]

2nd classes in-game look more like a dark crimson red in my eyes.

Also, weren't first classes in BC purple? I thought they still used the old color scheme in Before Crisis.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Hmm, I've never seen that artwork but they didn't look like that in the game. I just googled a picture of Kunsel who was 2nd class and his uniform is definitely a lot more purple than the one in that picture. And why would Zack be special? Yes, he had more potential than many of the other SOLDIERs but only 1sts are allowed to wear whatever they want. It just doesn't make sense considering what we know about SOLDIER.

Kunsel was always in red, what are you talking about? You should pay more attention to the game, and the Ultimania page I just showed you.

And here's the interview right out of Nomura's own mouth hitoshura translated.

ZACK

- Was Zack's change of hair style during the game something you'd planned from the start?

Nomura: "During production some of the staff seem have been under the impression that his hair would stay the same as it was when he was a 2nd Class when he made it to 1st, so they might have been surprised at the change."

- Zack's SOLDIER outfit seems different too.

Nomura: "In the original FFVII SOLDIER 2nd Class had red uniforms. But I couldn't really imagine Zack in red, so I got them to be let me make that detail different from the original."

- I can't really imagine Zack in a red uniform either...

Nomura: "So I changed the colours of Zack's 1st and 2nd uniforms. The 2nd uniform is more blue, while the 1st uniform is black. Cloud wore a bluish uniform in FFVII, but originally it was going to be black. At the time due to circumstance it was changed to a deep blue, so now we've made the 1st uniform black like they were originally intended to be, and used the original game's design for 2nd Class."

2nd Class SOLDIERs wear red. Always have, and always will. Zack was just the exception. Black is for 1st Class.

 

[pESCAbAdA]

Kunsel was always in red, what are you talking about? You should pay more attention to the game, and the Ultimania page I just showed you.

I'll concede that canonically 2nds are in red, but I still say they did a bad job of portraying it in the game, which I did in fact pay attention to and as I said I googled a picture just to double check. Please, don't talk to me like I'm an idiot.

 

[Makoeyes987]

How does he look purple...? That just doesn't make sense. You must've seen like, a bad screenshot/picture or something.

 

[pESCAbAdA]

http://media.photobucket.com/image/kunsel crisis core/lp_ccff7_01/0086.png

How does that not look purple? It certainly isn't red.

 

[Makoeyes987]

That's not how it looked in my game. Hmm.

It looks more like a fuschia there. A purpilish red.

 

[Cat Rage Room]

To be honest here, it DID look like the screenshot in my game as well. It definitely wasn't an obvious, shout out red. It definitely was more of a purple.

 

[ForceStealer]

Yeah that's how he looked in my game too.

 

[pESCAbAdA]

And it looked like that in my game as well, hence why I picked that specific screenshot. I'm glad some people are agreeing with me, I thought maybe I was going crazy.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Red or purple

That's how he looked in my game, too. Presumably they are both meant to be second class in this screen shot?

Can anybody clear up a related issue that's been confusing me? Genesis, Angeal, and Sephiroth - are they 'merely' first class, or some rank above 1st that's reserved for the three of them because of their unique origins and powers? I can see that each of them gets to wear whatever they want (my son and I had a long argument about whether Genesis' coat is pink (me) or red (him); it's so obviously pink, but we finally settled on 'rose'.) and I don't think Zack gets to wear whatever he chooses: Nomura makes that reference to the 1st's uniform, and then in the Nibelheim manson Zack finds the old 1sts uniform in the wardrobe for Cloud. I always got the impression that G, A and S were in a league of their own above even Zack.

 

[Tetsujin]

it's so obviously pink

Wut?

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Pink

Dark pink. Cerise.

To me, anyway. But then there's always the possibility that colours look different to different eyes. Scientific research has established that women tend to see more colours and be better at distinguishing between colours than men. Apparently this is because the colour perception genes are on the X chromosome. I just thought everyone would like to know that.

Check this out: http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2006/07/do_women_perceive_color_differ_1.php

So what looks red to Nomura may look pink to me. Though I do think pink suits Genesis....

 

[Makoeyes987]

Can anybody clear up a related issue that's been confusing me? Genesis, Angeal, and Sephiroth - are they 'merely' first class, or some rank above 1st that's reserved for the three of them because of their unique origins and powers? I can see that each of them gets to wear whatever they want (my son and I had a long argument about whether Genesis' coat is pink (me) or red (him); it's so obviously pink, but we finally settled on 'rose'.) and I don't think Zack gets to wear whatever he chooses: Nomura makes that reference to the 1st's uniform, and then in the Nibelheim manson Zack finds the old 1sts uniform in the wardrobe for Cloud. I always got the impression that G, A and S were in a league of their own above even Zack.

They're 1st Class, but they're called the "elite" of 1st Class, and Sephiroth is stated as "the figure ranked highest of all."

However, *all* SOLDIER 1st Class are given the right to choose what they wear. Genesis and Sephiroth choose to wear their own outfits. Angeal and Zack choose to wear the standard uniform. But all 1st Class SOLDIERs are entitled to that luxury.

 

[Masamune]

I was at least hoping for a Saving Private Ryan scene as Shinra attacks the shores of Wutai. Nothing better than Zack stumbling over limbs and organs as 'Why' gently chimes in the background.

Alas...

 

[Cat Rage Room]

I definitely would have liked to see a scene of Shinra storming Wutai's shores. That would have been awesome.

 

[Splintered]

Well to be fair

Cloud: (thinking that he's Zack)

I joined SOLDIER so I could be like you.
But by the time I made First Class, the war was already over.
My big hopes of becoming a hero like you ended with the war.
That's why I always sign up whenever there's a big mission. Kind of a way to prove myself.

It sort of implies that the Wutai war was mostly over during Zack's stay as a soldier, and he didn't get to do much. It's a shame because an actual war during the game would have been an interesting watch.

 

[Cat Rage Room]

However, someone doesn't have to be a First Class SOLDIER to serve in active combat, given that the Shinra Army accepts 14 year olds in its ranks.

 

[Splintered]

However, someone doesn't have to be a First Class SOLDIER to serve in active combat, given that the Shinra Army accepts 14 year olds in its ranks.

I know. There are holes in that quote a mile wide (given that Zack never gave up hope to be a hero and that I'm pretty sure he didn't jump on the opportunity to go to Nibelheim). But the overall gist of the comment was that he didn't get to do much during the Wutai war because he got in late in the game. Which is pretty consistent with Crisis Core.

I'm just saying it makes sense even if I agree it's a pretty big disappointment.

 

[Tetsujin]

Cloud wasn't thinking that he's Zack.

He made up some stuff on his own, and the story about the war being over is most likely part of it, since it didn't end sometime after Zack made 1st class. So this isn't from Zack's memory.

 

[SOLDIERis1337]

Essai and Sebastian are second class SOLDIERs according to the Crisis Core Complete Guide. The entry on Essai reads:

A SOLDIER 2nd Class who appeared in “BC”. He had been on assignments with Zack in the past, and since then they were close friends. He participated in the assault against AVALANCHE at Icicle Lodge in [ ν ] -εуλ 0002, and was killed in battle. During one of the flashbacks with Tseng in the D.M.W. in this game, there is a scene where Zack and Tseng visit the grave-markers of Essai and Sebastian.

Regardless of uniform color in BC, it never made sense for them to have been firsts anyway, judging from their combat prowess against Fuhito's Ravens.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Yeah, they are 2nd Class, but there's clearly an inconsistency on the rank their uniform dictates, seeing as how they're not wearing a color that's even close to red.

 

[SOLDIERis1337]

I always thought they retconned SOLDIER into having only that dark purple colored uniform until CC, as that's all we're shown in DoC and BC. Like I said though, I never believed Essai and Sebastian to be 1st class, which is why I assumed they just made all classes uniforms the same color before I saw Crisis Core's models.

 

[Makoeyes987]

I always thought they retconned SOLDIER into having only that dark purple colored uniform until CC, as that's all we're shown in DoC and BC. Like I said though, I never believed Essai and Sebastian to be 1st class, which is why I assumed they just made all classes uniforms the same color before I saw Crisis Core's models.

Those DG versions of SOLDIER are just called "SOLDIER" with no indication of rank, so I always figured they were just DG SOLDIER...SOLDIERS

And well, I just figured Essai adn Sebastian were just shitty 1st class members, since SOLDIER was probably hurting for man power and thus promoted them to 1st recently. But alas, I was wrong and they're not, so