Theory: Opening cinematic

[Pixel]

Im thinking the opening cinematic will go something like this


Possibly Nanaki explaining the history of Midgar.
We see the development of a prosperous city

A modern city built up, only a few years after the widespread use of Mako energy.

For a time, it was good

Over time it made the land barren as Shinra stepped up production to meet demand The polution starts blocking out the sun.

We see (possibly) the first time a new Mako reactor is fired up in Midgar

Cut to what Midgar has become

We see what has become of that city, torn down to create an acropolis. And in its place, the debris is left to fester.

We get a brief glimpse of Cloud and Barret making their way through the slums.to board the train.

Bright light, Transition to the light of the helicopter

Cut to Aerith in the Alleyway

Brief shot of speeding train

Cut to Biggs and Wedge already at the reactor.

Train pulls into the station

 

[Octo]

That will be awesome, heres hoping. (welcome back btw )

 

[Ⓐaron]

What Octo said

 

[lithiumkatana17]

That would be awesome!!

I really like that idea, especially with Nanaki doing the voice over.

 

[Roger]

I'm good with the part of Nanaki doing the voice-over. But Midgar was build with Mako energy. And we can see the big pipes in the shots of the modern city. It'll really change the shape of the world if Mako energy wasn't needed for electricity, and brought no comfort or luxury to anyone.

 

[Flintlock]

Welcome back!

 

[Pixel]

Well, it could be that they had been using it for a few years, and the city built up. And over time it made the land barren as Shinra stepped up production to meet demand

 

[FinalHeavenxLockhartx]

New to the place here! I agree with the whole Nanaki explaining to the player or 'certain characters' about the events that are about to unfold. I'd go into detail but I dont wanna spoil anything for anyone but I think this would be an awesome idea seeing as the remake won't be exactly the same so I'm sure it'll have a longer and dynamic intro!

 

[Ite]

Ho dang welcome back Pixel.

 

[Jason Tandro]

That's an interesting theory. I don't think the Mako Reactor first coming online and turning the city into a hellhole theory is altogether bad either. If you recall the lore, Midgar was built by taking all the various towns and cities in the area and combining them into a metropolis with the 8 Mako Reactors circling the central Shinra Tower. This would also explain why we see the highways and trains running throughout.

As for Mako being the thing creating electricity, that is a snagging point. But we see clear signs of electricity in one place nowhere near a Mako Reactor in the game. Icicle Inn. (My headcanon is that Gold Saucer was powered by the Gongaga and Corel Reactors and Rocket Town by Nibelheim.) So maybe Mako was just a cheaper energy alternative that could be easily controlled.

Then again, they are called the Shinra Electric Corporation, not the Shinra Mako Corporation, so I could be wrong.

Edit: I would love to hear Shademp's thoughts on this.

 

[Pixel]

Everything was coal powered before Mako. In On The Way To A Smile they revert back to coal powered vehicles.

Oil was also being explored as a fuel, but when Mako came along, it was abandoned, and it was Mako all the way.

 

[Sublime]

I can see how Midgar might go from being gritty to changing into a clean city with high rise buildings etc. but I don't really see it happening in reverse. There aren't any remains of these tall buildings in the Midgar we know from the OG and indeed from other shots of Midgar in the trailer(excluding the Shinra HQ) to support this theory.

I would still argue that it's Midgar in the future and then the trailer that we've seen cuts back to the Midgar "we remember"

But anyway, that's a discussion for another thread.

The rest of the ideas are very nice.

 

[Cthulhu]

Everything was coal powered before Mako. In On The Way To A Smile they revert back to coal powered vehicles.

Oil was also being explored as a fuel, but when Mako came along, it was abandoned, and it was Mako all the way.

Didn't Barret grow a hard-on at finding oil in a phonecall at the start of AC/ACC?

 

[Lex]

Pixel as I was reading through your post initially I was like "original opening or riot" but then I see how you mixed the two and I'm 100% on board.

 

[Claymore]

I like the theory that it's the future transitioning into the past, but this is a good theory.

 

[Pixel]

I had this idea of Nanaki recounting the story to his cubs around the fire in Cosmo Canyon years ago... it says childhood comic, but it wasn't actually that long ago XD
http://imgur.com/gallery/YC108

 

[Pixel]

I figured I'd throw together an opening sequence. I was hoping to get Nanaki's VA to do a little voiceover, but he's the same guy who played Reno, so I'm not holding out much hope lol. I haven't added in all of the sound effects yet. You might recognise the sound of the kids playing as the last thing you hear in FF7. The video is set to private btw

 

[Mayo Master]

I got an

Spoiler: idea for a fairly different take on the game's opening

First, the game would begin with Aerith's prayer... but not the one of the OG. I'm talking about this one...

Transition to a first-person view (meaning: Cloud's) running through the slums of Midgar, with an effect of tunnel vision

Which would eventually lead to this scene, where Tifa finds Cloud on the platform of Sector 7.

She gives him food and shelter in the 7th heaven, before Cloud sets to follow Zack's wishes (referring to the image below, which obviously wouldn't be displayed at this stage)

and takes small jobs in Midgar which would be structured as an open-world.
Sometime later Cloud signs up for the Bombing Mission we all know.

 

[Pixel]

That would be the opening if the makers of Terminator Gensys made FF7. Just spoil everything before even playing the game

 

[Mayo Master]

That would be the opening if the makers of Terminator Gensys made FF7. Just spoil everything before even playing the game

It could be arranged in a spoiler-free manner. Have Cloud less catatonic when he meets Tifa, and have him mention he "deserted" Shinra without further details. Someone can be found starving and sick in a ditch without presuming a case of mako-poisoning or Jenova-ification
Also: the Zack and Cloud in the truck image was to refer to a concept, not something which should be shown at that point in the game. For that matter Cloud doesn't even remember Zack in the beginning of the story.

 

[Roger]

Cloud gets up as soon as Tifa addresses him, poses, swings his sword around and is generally fine. Tifa convinced him to stay aroun because she worried, in no version of the story did she nurse him back to health. Just skip the initial scene and you don't spoil anything.

 

[Starling]

On top of hinting at too much, you'd lose the book-ends effect of starting with Aerith looking at the mako leak on the upper plate and ending with Aerith praying in the lifestream, followed by the epilogue. I think the scene where Tifa finds Cloud is best left as a flashback when we finally hear about the doubts she's been having all that time.

 

[Mayo Master]

On top of hinting at too much, you'd lose the book-ends effect of starting with Aerith looking at the mako leak on the upper plate and ending with Aerith praying in the lifestream, followed by the epilogue.

Actually, I precisely thought of the book-end effect you mentioned by starting the game with Aerith's prayer (the one corresponding to the moment of Zack's death, instead of the one from the OG). I agree it is an important aspect worth keeping.

 

[Lex]

I'm not sure what I want from the book-end effect thing. On the one hand, to this day when I'm doing a playthrough the way the game ends with Aerith's face makes me tear up. I am jaded to fuck with FFVII, but even now it gets an emotional kick out of me every time I see it when I finish playing.

On the other, I just don't know how that's going to work now that the Compilation exists. I wouldn't particularly mind if the Compilation never existed even though I got enjoyment out of nearly all of the titles, but I think if they perfectly recreated the original ending it would be weird. Even though it's something I'd love to see. I'm very Disc 1 Cloud about this issue.

 

[Starling]

Well, they could add to the epilogue. Have something post-compilation but before the 500 years later thing.