Which chapter was that again? The plate? Couldn't be Wall Street as that was one of the more amusing ones. Honestly for me the low point was the two motorcycle sections but then I didn't like those in the original either. At least when you replay it via Chapter Select you can skip them.

 

Spoiler

12= Jessie dies without getting laid.

Alas, she was too horny innocent for this world.

 

I should add, I'm not pissed about what happened overall, I'm disgusted by how it happened.

Pretty much for the entire chapter, each scene was making me angrier and angrier. It was pure amateur hour, as if a twelve year old ff author thought of 'cool' scenes in their head and strung them together despite none of it making any logical sense.

And Jesus Christ can Aerith get in the bin already? Anyone here who likes her is objectively wrong.

 

Probably easier to just drop her in a lake.

 

Meh. Some people like vanilla. And Cloud and Aerith are very vanilla compared to rest of the quirky FF7 cast. Neither is inherently a bad character. They're just a bit bland.

I was hoping the devs would give them both a little more personality for the remake, but they are both still basically the same char through and through.

I do like that they've made all of Cloud's "...."s and curt responses into more emotive nuanced pauses. They did great work with his facial expressions.

 

I think they've given Aerith a bit more depth. She knows something's up with

Spoiler

fate and destiny, and how this is not the first playthrough of events, and how she may need to sacrifice herself into the planet to prevent Meteor

. She knew that last point in the original though.

 

Cloud's line to Tifa about his disguise is honestly the funniest thing in the entire game. I don't think I've laughed that hard in a game ever.

Spoiler

'Cloud, that make up! That dress!'

'Nailed it, I know, thank you. Moving on.' (Complete deadpan delivery kills it).

 

Barrett vs Stairs had me giggling harder.

Stairs > Elevator. These are the choices that matter.

 

Still pissed off they didn't give me my Elixer while climbing that bullshit.

 

Finished. Whew. That was a hell of a ride.

Spoiler

I guess the point of the final scene is that Zack surviving is the flashpoint that started us down this timeline, and the Whispers have been trying to correct it since. I'm hoping he will still kick it at some point though. That tragedy kinda defines the whole story.

The ending was very Nomura-y and I am not surprised at all they decided to go the divergent timeline route. They want to keep the fans of the original game on their toes. That said, I am sort of dreading the outcry against future changes now that they've "defeated" destiny. Can you imagine the vitriol if they killed Tifa instead of Aerith?

I was pretty okay with how it went down and I loved the final Harbinger / Sephiroth fights. It really felt like I was playing something straight out of Advent Children.

 

Nah, I see that read a lot but...

Spoiler

The way I see there are now three timelines. Timeline 1 is the original game/compilation. Timeline 2 is the Remake. Timeline 3 is the timeline in which Zack can now survive thanks to us killing the Harbinger(s) of Fate in Timeline 2. With possibly Sephiroth being able to see the future/original timeline. So Cloud's Zack is still dead. My main reason for the read for a 3rd timeline is that Cloud doesn't recognize Zack. And more importantly Zack doesn't react to seeing a 2nd Cloud (counting the one on his back) or Aerith. Also because like... the complete lack of Zack at all and given what we know of him from Crisis Core he'd have been around Cloud and/or Aerith. As for the "Things can change" yep. They absolutely can that was the entire point of the Whispers thing. Now will they? Probably not in major ways. Maybe Aerith lives this time, maybe not. I'd say it depends on if they need Holy or not in this timeline. I'm expecting a ton of minor changes, such as Cloud trying to make an actual attempt at his merc business or the VR/Materia guy but not too many truly major ones.

 

Wow. Hard mode is... not fun? If they were going to take away items, they should at least have kept MP recovery at benches. I shouldn't have to save scum at Shinra boxes for a full bar of MP before a boss fight.

I want to Aerith Smash whoever thought this was a good "high difficulty" implementation.

 

The way the story clicked for me, and we've just no way to see if it's true, is

Spoiler

That AC Sephiroth (bc wing) was somehow able to get knowledge of what happened back in time either with Jenova or just himself. The ghosts represent 'Fate' trying to stop him fucking with the timeline and he manipulates us into killing Fate Bahamut so he's irrevocably released from his inevitable demise.

The whole thing kinda hit me in the face when Red mentions something about a 'bad end' while seeing his original ending cinematic with him running with his child. I took that as a possible reference that maybe even the OG was the 'bad ending.'

Honestly, I was super down with everything until the Zack scene. Wtf is this now, we're gonna have 3 timelines represented? This is why I hate timetravel stories that try go too deep and don't just use it as a throwaway plot device...

I can't help but think none of this will matter and they're just using this as a big fakeout so they can gutpunch you with Aerith's death again, just after they gave you hope.

Personally idc, I hope the bitch dies again XD

Though I've a feeling we'll be seeing Jessie again in Zack's timeline, but she'll be at the Golden Saucer.

 

Watch them kill Tifa instead, this time. Now *that* would get a fan reaction.

 

Mass Effect 3 ending outrage would have nothing on a hypothetical Tifa dies outrage.

 

I still found hard mode fun but it was definitely frustrating, and not in a good way. Boss fights are brutal as is, with regular attacks that can nearly delete your entire health bar if not blocked/dodged, and special attacks that that can't be dodged but will still hit like a truck even if blocked. Being forced to carefully ration MP while desperately trying to heal in a mode that doesn't let you use items ain't fun.

That being said, I can't stop playing. The holes in the combat become clearer in Hard Mode and the decision to not restore MP from benches is retarded but it's still hella fun.

 

Just started this yesterday. Playing on Normal, and the boss fights just seem really, really, reeeeeeeeeeally overtuned.

 

The early game basically provides zero opportunities to overlevel. You are meant to be feeling the hurt on boss fights.

Several tips to help you get in the swing of it:

1) Switch character control and do so often to spread damage. Enemies preferentially target the player controlled character unless someone has Provoke materia equipped (helps to max it and put it on Barrett and do lifesaver/steelheart/manawall on him for when shit gets chaotic).

2) Use Assess wherever possible. Boss combat revolves fully around exploiting weak points to trigger pressured status, and then getting off the right attacks to trigger stagger. If you just mindlessly dodge/hack/slash, you're going to have a lot of trouble with the game.

3) Use your chained materia slots. The AoE materia with Cure/Regen materia is a literal lifesaver.

4) Chakra and Prayer are excellent 'oh shit' buttons, and if you ever decide to try the MP desert that is Hard mode, they'll be your best (and only) friends.

5) Keep Tifa at 3rd chi level and main her on staggers so you can chain some abilities then unload RaF and Omnistrike.

6) Always abuse Cloud's Punisher mode block/parry for melee bosses. Dodging will only get you so far.

 

@KHAAAAAAAN!! Provoke materia doesn't work on powerful enemies like bosses and some mini-bosses.

 

Yes but it does work on all the mobs that several bosses summon, which is why I mentioned the chaotic bit.