Remake Interviews: Catch-all Thread

[Makoeyes987]

The thing is they could have made whatever changes they wanted while following the main story WITHOUT the Destiny Incarnate fight. Tons of things happened differently in Part 1 that didn't involve the Whispers and they were by and large great. So I don't know why they would need all that to "justify" any deviations down the road.

Well, clearly they did it because there were certain plot changes and subversions they wished to explore along the way.

They couldn't just have Zack appear in a flashback to Crisis Core and show him surviving the final battle meant to kill him, could they? Something had to set that up. Rather than him being a seldom seen deceased mystery, he's now a living phantom who's enigmatic existence challenges what we understand of the whole story entirely.

 

[ForceStealer]

They couldn't just have Zack appear in a flashback to Crisis Core and show him surviving the final battle meant to kill him, could they?

And what a shame that would be.

 

[Wol]

IMHO the Whispers and the big fight at the end are the justification for the Zack AU. If they are not here, they cannot justify the creation of this separate world where Zack survives. They are also needed to keep Aerith down, because they’re the ones who prevent her from understanding everything. Now that they have defeated destiny, Aerith can become closer to her Cetra ancestry, and maybe even hear what flowers have to tell her.

Well, they could devise other ways to deviate from the original story, like implying Jenova can also manipulate time because she's a freaking eldritch nightmare.

 

[Eerie]

They couldn't, or else Sephiroth would have it way too easy in the Lifestream. At least the Whispers aren't fully manipulated by him, it's still the Lifestream White vs Lifestream Black.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Seems like it's too easy for Sephiroth already, given there's apparently 2 of him

And I honestly find that implication above all else the most curious and frankly, bizarre. Zack's situation is enigmatic but a Sephiroth separate from the one encountered in the story up until then just makes me think of the mystery of "Black" from Dragonball Super. An unknown assailant from the future that shows up out of nowhere and seemingly works in tandem with their present counterpart. Fucking wild. Thankfully he seems contained to his "Edge of Creation" but he'll obviously return at some point.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

The Whispers aren't just a plot device. What they are and what they do is a major mystery going forwards. Right up there with "what happened at Zack's Last Stand"?

I feel the developers will always think they've delivered a remake of the original game. Whether that's true depends on the individual holding the controller. Just look at the reaction to part 1.

This is my gigantic caviat to everyone saying the Remake will follow the OG story. This is what the devs *think*. But that was what they said about Part 1 as well. So their claim that it will be like the OG needs to be filtered through what we got in Part 1.

Which... If what is important to you is *why* events are happening... Part 1 could be seen as being *very* different than the OG.

It also has to be filtered with previous comments in mind. Particularly this one that takes about them *planning* to deviate from the OG in Part 2 rather than in Part 1 (except for Biggs surviving). And then they changed their minds and had the Remake deviate from the OG more substantially in Part 1.

-- In regards to the story's important key points, there must be a flashback scene from her on out, right?

Nomura: At first, the direction we took was that we did not want to put any of these hints while still in Midgar.

Nojima: Right, we originally planned to have the story-line diverge only slightly.

Nomura: We thought ot have only a sbutle change where in the ending you see Biggs alive, which makes yo uthink, "Wait, this is werid..." and gives a slight sense of unease. But then the staff thought, well if there's room for more scenes, then let's just add it laughs). When we did that, there were scenes that we had to say, "No this won't do", and removed it from the story. We didn't add too many new things, but we did leave a few scenes in.

Nojima: I myself added in about two or three scenarios to that too... I'm not soo sure what happened to those scenarios at the end. (laughs)

Like... the devs themselves have said the story-line is going to diverge. They have also said it's going to follow the OG. Those two ideas are at odds with each other and we're not going to know exactly what that means until the series ends. That said... looking at Remake... I'm thinking a lot more is going to change with regards to *why* things happen than people think.

The new interview also doesn't discount things changing either.

“I think the content we present using the latest technology and game design should have evolved from what we accomplished using the technology we had at the time of the original Final Fantasy 7,” Toriyama-san says. “What we absolutely should not change though is the same spirit of taking on new challenges on the creative side. It is actually quite tricky maintaining that kind of attitude to create new things. I also think that fans of the original will be able to enjoy the game more if it includes content that goes deeper into the existing story, with scenes that are enhanced and presented, so it doesn’t always follow that we should stick rigidly to how things were in the original version.”

Given that "not stick rigidly to how things were in the original version" included "fight Sephiroth and the manifestation of Destiny while leaving Migar" in Remake... I'm kinda expecting similar additions to the plot/meaning/themes of the OG.

The thing that gets to me with the statement "the team will “draw the line” to ensure core elements and iconic moments are accurately recreated" is that *no one* outside the dev team knows where that line is drawn. Maybe it's really close to the OG, maybe it's really far from it. We simply have never gotten a straight answer from the devs about what they consider to be "too much change from the OG"... except for what Remake Part 1 had which included Zack not dying. Apparently the devs decided that letting Zack live didn't make Remake a "completely new game" from the OG in their books. You just wonder *where else* they have drawn that line...

 

[Makoeyes987]

Zack being alive is unresolved, in flux, and a mystery at play. How it ends and fits within the overarching context of the story of FFVII simply remains to be seen. It could simply fit within the alignment of retelling FFVII from a different, updated perspective. And how that ending scene will fit, will inevitably change as the games come out; it may feel completely divergent from the OG at present since we have no additional context to interpret it but then it may flip entirely.

And the creators' judgment of what they mean regarding FFVII's story and their commentary has to be looked at within a social lens. They aren't divorced from reality or ignorant of audience perception. We may not know their private thoughts or feelings of importance but they make those comments with people's perceptions in mind and the intentional course for the story. They're not stupid.

Them speaking about having originally decided upon "only a subtle change" is regarding the ending and a statement towards how they chose to frame the mysterious scenes of said ending. Rather than wait to allude to those enigmatic changes, they added the scenes and got it over with.

And regardless of what they said before about the ending, what they're saying now is equally relevant and has been consistent. They're aware of what they've said regarding that ending and they've now triple-downed in their macro perspective of what the Remake story will follow. Either they're aware of and confident in what they're saying about the story within the context of these mysteries... Or they're lying. I just don't believe they're stupidly unaware of what makes FFVII given the fact they've witnessed people's playthroughs, have spoken with fans and have spoken about it before. They carry common sense. So they're honest or they're lying.

 

[Roundhouse]

Or they are attempting to have their cake and eat it too.......by using the alternate timeline.

 

[Makoeyes987]

I mean who knows at this point.

The "how" is a mystery but I just don't think they're lying or so mentally vacuous that they'd say such declarative statements with zero understanding of the audience's perspective.

This is plot in motion and while it has launched some significant implications into orbit, we simply do not know where they may land in the future.

 

[Kain424]

Entirely possible, but there may be more we can gather from these interviews if we assume a level of honestly therein.

The thing that gets to me with the statement "the team will “draw the line” to ensure core elements and iconic moments are accurately recreated" is that *no one* outside the dev team knows where that line is drawn. Maybe it's really close to the OG, maybe it's really far from it. We simply have never gotten a straight answer from the devs about what they consider to be "too much change from the OG"... except for what Remake Part 1 had which included Zack not dying. Apparently the devs decided that letting Zack live didn't make Remake a "completely new game" from the OG in their books. You just wonder *where else* they have drawn that line...

Of course not. And since they've now outright brought up making sure "iconic moments are accurately recreated" there's actually a decent amount we can infer from there. Zack's death was an optional, hidden scene in the original game. Not an iconic moment. It's made iconic in Crisis Core, but not in Final Fantasy VII. And even then, it was changed up from the original game's version of events. So we can likely infer Zack's addition will not cause Remake's storyline to suddenly flip upside down from the original's. How they will accomplish this remains to be seen.

But it may be important to consider how Yuffie's expansion works within the framework of the narrative. Her entire section could have existed in the original game for all she added to the storyline. It's something worth considering.

 

[Roundhouse]

Zack's actual death scene may not be an iconic moment, but his death -- or at least, his removal from the events in the tale -- are crucial to the OG narrative. They could technically still follow everything, but it would mean that Zack has to stay away from all the main characters and events, which sounds.....dubious.

 

[Kain424]

Zack's actual death scene may not be an iconic moment, but his death -- or at least, his removal from the events in the tale -- are crucial to the OG narrative. They could technically still follow everything, but it would mean that Zack has to stay away from all the main characters and events, which sounds.....dubious.

Indeed. So it makes sense to try an infer from there. How could Zack's existence not interfere with our "iconic moments" from the original game? Try and think of an answer, and one or more of your guesses may prove correct.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

Either they're aware of and confident in what they're saying about the story within the context of these mysteries... Or they're lying. I just don't believe they're stupidly unaware of what makes FFVII given the fact they've witnessed people's playthroughs, have spoken with fans and have spoken about it before. They carry common sense. So they're honest or they're lying.

Or they're trolling. Nomura in particular is god-tier at ("You won't know what the title 'remake' actually means for a few years yet!"). Kitase is the source of a lot of the sentiment that it *will* be different rather than the same in other interviews. Nojima tends to keep his cards close to his chest rather than talk about things to come. He also is... really bad at holding back a lot of things story related based on previous interviews. So him not talking... I kinda wonder if it's that he doesn't want to spoil things too soon and has a hard time holding himself back.

The trouble with saying they know the audience... is that none of them like writing "safe" stories. Particularly Nojima. They all like subverting audience expectations of where the story is going to go and what archtypes the characters are. So I... really can't put it past them to be setting the audience up to be surprised with what comes in the Remaek series rather than... re-assuring... the audience that the story is what the audience *wants* it to be. They don't want the audience's reaction to be "this is what I thought it would be". They want it to be "I had no idea this is what was coming".

Of course not. And since they've now outright brought up making sure "iconic moments are accurately recreated" there's actually a decent amount we can infer from there.

There isn't though. For every "iconic moments are accurately recreated" line we have, we also get an "it doesn’t always follow that we should stick rigidly to how things were in the original version". The truth seems to be somewhere in the middle. Some iconic moments get recreated faithfully (enhanced really is what they call it) while others are changed while entirely new plot points/beats get added.

The other trouble is this is "iconic moments according to the devs". Not "iconic moment according to the players". I still can't get over how they cut/replaced the "talking through the jail cells" scene because to me, that is one of the best insights into Aerith's character in the entire game. We don't even have the "Cloud and Co. on the edge of the highway" scene as they talk about Midgar anymore. Because those aren't "iconic scenes" the devs felt were necessary to preserve.

This gets into a whole argument about semantics and what "counts" as an "iconic scene" and what doesn't. And also what "counts" as changing/enhancing/preserving one. I know people who say that the scene in Aerith's Room is the Jail Cell scene that is retooled. Barret gets some of Aerith's old lines. Aerith gets completely new lines. They still talk about the Cetra... but the thing I liked about the Jail Scene, Aerith talking about hearing Ifalna after she was dead in the Church... that's still not there. Is that an "iconic scene" that is still in the game? maybe! Is it really different in some ways from the OG! Definitely. Are there some similarities to the OG version? Yes. I'm thinking this is how *most* "iconic scenes" will go down. The theme of the scene will be there, but the location/characters/specific information involved will be different.

How could Zack's existence not interfere with our "iconic moments" from the original game? Try and think of an answer, and one or more of your guesses may prove correct.

The same way Sephiroth shows up in Midgar. The devs didn't think him showing up would change the "iconic scenes" too much. So they put him in. Sephiroth being "hidden" from the player simply wasn't a priority for them. Zack not being part of Avalanche could easily *not* change the "iconic scenes" too much from their point of view. For all we know, Zack is one of the reasons they are going to "not stick too rigidly to the OG" when it comes to "iconic scenes".

 

[Makoeyes987]

I am certain they are aware Zack's death scene is iconic. They've spoken at length about it in reference to Crisis Core and the OG. The fact it is different now is due to their intention to play with that moment and utilize it to great effect going forward.

That's the present course. How it ends regarding the overarching Remake project remains to be seen but they have specifically stated their intention to have the plot not be 180 from itself as FFVII. Those are not contradictory goals or conclusions.

Or they're trolling. Nomura in particular is god-tier at ("You won't know what the title 'remake' actually means for a few years yet!"). Kitase is the source of a lot of the sentiment that it *will* be different rather than the same in other interviews. Nojima tends to keep his cards close to his chest rather than talk about things to come. He also is... really bad at holding back a lot of things story related based on previous interviews. So him not talking... I kinda wonder if it's that he doesn't want to spoil things too soon and has a hard time holding himself back.

I consider trolling lying. And I don't think they intentionally set out to troll their audience. Nomura just naturally does not wish to spoil what is meant to unfold in the text. That's not trolling, it's simple storytelling. We don't know the context of "Remake" yet because we've only experienced a small fraction of the project.

The trouble with saying they know the audience... is that none of them like writing "safe" stories. Particularly Nojima. They all like subverting audience expectations of where the story is going to go and what archtypes the characters are. So I... really can't put it past them to be setting the audience up to be surprised with what comes in the Remaek series rather than... re-assuring... the audience that the story is what the audience *wants* it to be. They don't want the audience's reaction to be "this is what I thought it would be". They want it to be "I had no idea this is what was coming".There isn't though. For every "iconic moments are accurately recreated" line we have, we also get an "it doesn’t always follow that we should stick rigidly to how things were in the original version".

Then by that logic, they've already set up a reverse of reverse. One potential path is subversion by adherence; lining up significant changes along the way of the Remake narrative and crashing expectations into the wall inevitability. A significant population of the audience have already steeled and set up hope for a completely divergent narrative and are enthralled with the possibility. They're not "safe" participants in this story unfolding. No one is safe given the uncertainty and hook that has been crafted in the story. So either course taken in the story will subvert the expectations like a punch to the chest. No one is totally safe.

The truth seems to be somewhere in the middle. Some iconic moments get recreated faithfully (enhanced really is what they call it) while others are changed while entirely new plot points/beats get added.

The other trouble is this is "iconic moments according to the devs". Not "iconic moment according to the players". I still can't get over how they cut/replaced the "talking through the jail cells" scene because to me, that is one of the best insights into Aerith's character in the entire game. We don't even have the "Cloud and Co. on the edge of the highway" scene as they talk about Midgar anymore. Because those aren't "iconic scenes" the devs felt were necessary to preserve.

Again, I do not believe they're ignorant of what gets branded or known by the audience as "iconic." They've spoken at length about the iconic moments of FFVII held by the audience and themselves. They've made exhibits to these iconic moments throughout the years in celebration. Their 20th Anniversary Ultimania revisits iconic moments of FFVII at length and shares commentary over it. How could they be blissfully unaware yet holding polls and speaking with influencers about them? That simply doesn't make sense, they may have their own opinions but given how they've crafted this very game, they reflect an awareness of what people hold important.

Not everything will be included in it's pure form. Certain scenes will be recontextualized, updated or augmented to fulfill a certain ambition to tell the story in a new way that suits the novel direction, aesthetics and intentions the author's have.

This gets into a whole argument about semantics and what "counts" as an "iconic scene" and what doesn't. And also what "counts" as changing/enhancing/preserving one. I know people who say that the scene in Aerith's Room is the Jail Cell scene that is retooled. Barret gets some of Aerith's old lines. Aerith gets completely new lines. They still talk about the Cetra... but the thing I liked about the Jail Scene, Aerith talking about hearing Ifalna after she was dead in the Church... that's still not there. Is that an "iconic scene" that is still in the game? maybe! Is it really different in some ways from the OG! Definitely. Are there some similarities to the OG version? Yes. I'm thinking this is how *most* "iconic scenes" will go down. The theme of the scene will be there, but the location/characters/specific information involved will be different.The same way Sephiroth shows up in Midgar. The devs didn't think him showing up would change the "iconic scenes" too much. So they put him in. Sephiroth being "hidden" from the player simply wasn't a priority for them. Zack not being part of Avalanche could easily *not* change the "iconic scenes" too much from their point of view. For all we know, Zack is one of the reasons they are going to "not stick too rigidly to the OG" when it comes to "iconic scenes".

Ultimately, no one is going to be pleased 100% with this project. Every moment is treasured by some fan out there either because of subjective attachment or even just headcanon. So yeah, "what counts" will obviously not include everything. It can't.

However. There are significant milestones and overarching points in the story that are generally seen as significant, well known, and core to FFVII. They are what makes up the "cliff notes" or recaps of the story. I don't think those are up for exclusion, and the writers aren't just blissfully unaware of their importance. Nothing hints at that type of ignorance.

 

[Kain424]

This gets into a whole argument about semantics and what "counts" as an "iconic scene" and what doesn't. And also what "counts" as changing/enhancing/preserving one. I know people who say that the scene in Aerith's Room is the Jail Cell scene that is retooled. Barret gets some of Aerith's old lines. Aerith gets completely new lines. They still talk about the Cetra... but the thing I liked about the Jail Scene, Aerith talking about hearing Ifalna after she was dead in the Church... that's still not there. Is that an "iconic scene" that is still in the game?

I think you're missing the forest for the trees here. I also liked the scene in the cells from the original game, but I would be hard-pressed to call it "iconic." In fact, what would most people say is "iconic" about Final Fantasy VII? I think it's a fairly easy list to make. Cloud, his sword, Aerith, Sephiroth, and Midgar are defining parts of its iconography, but it's iconic moments? The zoom into Midgar, Aerith's death, Cloud's memoryscape, the Northern Crater, flying the Highwind. The list descends into subjectivity after that. But aside from the addition of Meteor in the main plot, I would bet money on all of those things being in Remake at some point. No need to quibble over "rigidity" from there.

 

[Ite]

Shinra HQ in general should give you an idea as to what is considered iconic. Can we even say they even tried recreated the “iconic” Trail of Blood scene at all?

This quote sounds to me like a pr response to some public declarations that ppl won’t be buying Part 2 and beyond. “We assure you that you will get the product you want.” Assuaging fears has been part of the hype train since 2015. In my estimation, it is too late, I feel enough like a Charlie Brown with the football already. Like, Part 1 was not a trailer for Part 2. I keep being told to “just wait” and “let them finish” but if I ducked out of a show after 1 season, you wouldn’t say I didn’t give it a chance. This was 22% of the original game text, and yeah, some things were masterfully done — Airbuster in particular was the surprise high point of the game for me. I didn’t consider that iconic from the original game, and yet it was beautifully done. And then, how many “Top 10 Iconic FF7 Moments” had the trail of blood in them? What made Airbuster worthy of faithful recreation, but not a vital story beat?

Bring that knowledge with you before you trust that marketing line. We’re simply not on the same page.

 

[Eerie]

Wait up, I don't understand why Zack being alive proves anything? The fact that he's alive in another timeline doesn't mean he's not dead in Remake's timeline. That's the whole point of having a separate timeline, so Zack can be "dead" and alive at the same time.

If you look at the iconic moments of the OG in Midgar, you have:

- the opening

- the bombings with the bosses fights

- Cloud falling through the church's roof

- Wall Market - one of the things they considered having big changes yet still happening

- Tifa's rescue

- Don Corneo mansion

- the plate fall

- the Shinra tower

- Aerith's rescue

- finding the President's body in his office

- the run away from Midgar in itself

Plus, generally speaking, boss fights. And I mean, all of this is in the Remake. They all went through more or less big changes, were updated, but they were here. Maybe you don't really realise, but generally speaking, the game was acclamed. Fans loved it - in comparison, very few fans were ranting, some even went from ranting to accepting it. Were there big changes? Well, yes. But the OG frame is still here. It will be the same. They've said it since the *first* Ultimania that was released, and again and again. I do not believe that they're lying just to "keep players". They're not interested in that. They're doing their thing, they want to add a twist to the story, how it will resolve we will see, but upon seeing people being hopeful for even bigger changes in the story, of course they'd warn us that "hey, you know the story of the OG will be respected, right?"

IMHO the reason why they've been hammering that lately is because there are too many theories that are just *out there*, from Aerith surviving to changing completely the story. No, they're saying "don't theorise that, you'll get disappointed if you truly believe in that. All the iconic moments are going to be there." They're saying "expect Aerith to die, the Northern Crater to happen, the Lifestream scene to happen".

What do I expect from the next game? The Kalm flashback, the chocobo farm, the mythril mine, the Junon parade (imho Fort Condor can be skipped until the search for huge materia), the ship, Costal del Sol (as the fun chapter as Wall Market was), etc., etc.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Shinra HQ in general should give you an idea as to what is considered iconic. Can we even say they even tried recreated the “iconic” Trail of Blood scene at all?

This quote sounds to me like a pr response to some public declarations that ppl won’t be buying Part 2 and beyond. “We assure you that you will get the product you want.” Assuaging fears has been part of the hype train since 2015. In my estimation, it is too late, I feel enough like a Charlie Brown with the football already. Like, Part 1 was not a trailer for Part 2. I keep being told to “just wait” and “let them finish” but if I ducked out of a show after 1 season, you wouldn’t say I didn’t give it a chance. This was 22% of the original game text, and yeah, some things were masterfully done — Airbuster in particular was the surprise high point of the game for me. I didn’t consider that iconic from the original game, and yet it was beautifully done. And then, how many “Top 10 Iconic FF7 Moments” had the trail of blood in them? What made Airbuster worthy of faithful recreation, but not a vital story beat?

Bring that knowledge with you before you trust that marketing line. We’re simply not on the same page.

At least you're honest about saying you believe they're outright lying.

And yes, the trail of blood scene was recreated. Not exactly, but certainly the atmosphere itself and it was spread out through the entirety of the chapter. However, because the blood was a different color from red in that moment, to you that was just a completely removed experience.

Nevermind you literally had the corpses of failed makonoid-esque experiments being devoured by zenenes in dimly lit hallways throughout the Drum, with blood on the floor and walls in the lead up to that revelation. Clearly, the element of horror and science fiction mad science was captured, albeit in different aspects spread out through the chapter. But because of that divergence with Jenova and its blood (nevermind its updated and completely eldritch abomination appearance) , that means it was scrapped to you.

This is again why I said not everyone will be pleased, even if there's clearly a capturing of the moment and recontextualization at work. However some just don't want anything different, and that's where the uncertainty and lack of "safety" exists.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

@Kain424
I will admit to having weird tastes and am a self-professed lore nerd. "Iconic" for me is very closely tied to when we get certain information drops in game. Probably because by the time I got into FFVII, it was all lego graphics to me and I'd seen way more impressive stuff in gaming already (and since). So it's the information/world-building of FFVII that is iconic to me rather than anything to do with graphics or visual presentation.

Most of people's "iconic" scenes to me are just lots of flashy pixels. I really don't care about flashy pixels. I care a lot more about what those flashy pixils *mean* rather than how they're presented in game. And what the flashy pixel moments "mean" is where a lot of things are changing from Remake compared to OG.

You ask me what makes a story and it's not a string of specific events. It's what those events are *saying* about the narrative. And the Remake is saying something very different about what it's narrative is about than the OG was. So the story of Remake is different than the story of the OG from where I'm standing.

Now... is that what most people (including the devs)'s idea of story is? Probably not. But it's still a valid way of looking at things.

Wait up, I don't understand why Zack being alive proves anything? The fact that he's alive in another timeline doesn't mean he's not dead in Remake's timeline. That's the whole point of having a separate timeline, so Zack can be "dead" and alive at the same time.

This is assuming Zack is in a different timeline when we still don't know if that is the case. Given how much importance has been placed *on* Zack in Remake... I'm betting probably not. They've made too big a deal of him being back to just shuffle him off somewhere where he doesn't have a really large effect on the story.

Nojima is a character interaction writer more than he is a "plot" writer. He *lives* for writing character interaction. And Zack is one of his favorite characters to write. For Nojima to *not* have Zack get to interact with everyone we know in FFVII... I have a *really, really, really* hard time seeing that.

 

[Smoothie King]

Wait up, I don't understand why Zack being alive proves anything? The fact that he's alive in another timeline doesn't mean he's not dead in Remake's timeline. That's the whole point of having a separate timeline, so Zack can be "dead" and alive at the same time.

If you look at the iconic moments of the OG in Midgar, you have:

- the opening

- the bombings with the bosses fights

- Cloud falling through the church's roof

- Wall Market - one of the things they considered having big changes yet still happening

- Tifa's rescue

- Don Corneo mansion

- the plate fall

- the Shinra tower

- Aerith's rescue

- finding the President's body in his office

- the run away from Midgar in itself

Plus, generally speaking, boss fights. And I mean, all of this is in the Remake. They all went through more or less big changes, were updated, but they were here. Maybe you don't really realise, but generally speaking, the game was acclamed. Fans loved it - in comparison, very few fans were ranting, some even went from ranting to accepting it. Were there big changes? Well, yes. But the OG frame is still here. It will be the same. They've said it since the *first* Ultimania that was released, and again and again. I do not believe that they're lying just to "keep players". They're not interested in that. They're doing their thing, they want to add a twist to the story, how it will resolve we will see, but upon seeing people being hopeful for even bigger changes in the story, of course they'd warn us that "hey, you know the story of the OG will be respected, right?"

IMHO the reason why they've been hammering that lately is because there are too many theories that are just *out there*, from Aerith surviving to changing completely the story. No, they're saying "don't theorise that, you'll get disappointed if you truly believe in that. All the iconic moments are going to be there." They're saying "expect Aerith to die, the Northern Crater to happen, the Lifestream scene to happen".

What do I expect from the next game? The Kalm flashback, the chocobo farm, the mythril mine, the Junon parade (imho Fort Condor can be skipped until the search for huge materia), the ship, Costal del Sol (as the fun chapter as Wall Market was), etc., etc.

I'm digging this post a lot. Captured my thoughts almost perfectly.

... Just don't end the game with a Sephiroth battle!

 

[Eerie]

Even if you merge timelines, Zack is still Schrödinger Zack; he did die once three months before Remake, and yet he's still living on. That's the thing with merged timelines, that one event happens doesn't mean another can't have happened. Especially if it's in the past. That said the devs have pointed out at a different time and space in the Ultimania, they have pointed at the terrier and the beagle (quite happily too). I do not believe that Zack can cross easily Cloud's path from now on. It would simply break Cloud and the plot.

 

[Smoothie King]

My belief from the very beginning has been that every single "iconic" scene will be recreated for this remake project. They will sprinkle new stuff in between to keep things fresh and will drop one big surprise per game on us. But I fully anticipate to relive all of the classic beats again in 60 FPS glory.

And you know what? As long as I get to relive those moments again, they can do whatever they want with the rest of it. Truly. I just want to feel like I did when I was in 7th grade all over again.

 

[Ite]

At least you're honest about saying you believe they're outright lying.

And yes, the trail of blood scene was recreated. Not exactly, but certainly the atmosphere itself and it was spread out through the entirety of the chapter. However, because the blood was a different color from red in that moment, to you that was just a completely removed experience.

Nevermind you literally had the corpses of failed makonoid-esque experiments being devoured by zenenes in dimly lit hallways throughout the Drum, with blood on the floor and walls in the lead up to that revelation. Clearly, the element of horror and science fiction mad science was captured, albeit in different aspects spread out through the chapter. But because of that divergence with Jenova and its blood (nevermind its updated and completely eldritch abomination appearance) , that means it was scrapped to you.

This is again why I said not everyone will be pleased, even if there's clearly a capturing of the moment and recontextualization at work. However some just don't want anything different, and that's where the uncertainty and lack of "safety" exists.

I didn’t say they are lying, I’m saying I don’t believe them. There is a difference. And can you blame me? The title of the game is intentially cheeky double-speak.

I believe that they want to deliver an unforgettable experience, using the story of Final Fantasy VII. I believe that is their honest intention. But if Chapter 17 is their (and your) idea of a recreation, it’s clear that this product isn’t for me.

 

[Theozilla]

The thing is they could have made whatever changes they wanted while following the main story WITHOUT the Destiny Incarnate fight. Tons of things happened differently in Part 1 that didn't involve the Whispers and they were by and large great. So I don't know why they would need all that to "justify" any deviations down the road.

I mean it's the likely same reason/log the devs went out of there way to make up a in-universe justification of why The First Soldier mobile game is reusing assets from the Remake (i.e. "the future" relative to the time period setting of The First Soldier). They likely think it's "clever" and in their view makes the changes more "fitting" (while I am sure for many that logic changes makes additions/changes more blaring and clunky to them).



As for Zack still being alive, regardless of whether he is in his own separate timeline/universe or the same one as the Remake cast, the point is that he's currently an obviously unresolved plot-line. Expecting it to go unresolved would be like expecting Lightning to stay petrified in her chair after the end of FFXIII-2. And since the developers are stated the macro-elements of the FFVII are going to recreated in the Remake, I think it's a reasonable mindset to currently expect that the resolution of Zack's future Remake plot-line will likely involve him not directly interacting with the Remake cast (i.e. in any way that would constitute "spoiling" them, and making the iconic OG moments unable to occur) and/or will probably have him return to his original fate.

I didn’t say they are lying, I’m saying I don’t believe them. There is a difference. And can you blame me? The title of the game is intentially cheeky double-speak.

I believe that they want to deliver an unforgettable experience, using the story of Final Fantasy VII. I believe that is their honest intention. But if Chapter 17 is their (and your) idea of a recreation, it’s clear that this product isn’t for me.

So by that logic, would you not "believe" Peter Jackson saying that his 2005 King Kong film is a Remake of the 1933 King Kong film?

 

[Makoeyes987]

I didn’t say they are lying, I’m saying I don’t believe them. There is a difference. And can you blame me? The title of the game is intentially cheeky double-speak.

I believe that they want to deliver an unforgettable experience, using the story of Final Fantasy VII. I believe that is their honest intention. But if Chapter 17 is their (and your) idea of a recreation, it’s clear that this product isn’t for me.

That's semantics. Either they're lying or they're being forthright.

This argument that they're clueless creators unaware of what makes their work spanning 20 years popular with an audience, just doesn't make sense. Especially in light of all the merchandising, commentary, exhibitions, popularity polls and the dialogue they've made about the work. It's so silly to me. They're grown ass men.

If you're going to say they achieved that level of recreation up until Chapter 17/18, then you either think they did that by accident or they did it intentionally through their ability. If it's intentional, then they have a direction and purpose behind it. It may be divergent in the immediate but unless they're brainworm addled, they're not somehow ignorant of their own commentary and meaning behind the words they say.