Part 3 theory crafting [SPOILERS]

[GB-Red-Eye]

Hey, so I wanted to hear some people's theories. Now, I'm sure we all were crying by the end of the game thanks to the emotional rollercoaster SE put us through. I mean the amount of times the scene flip-flopped between she's dead and she's alive just killed me.

Now, for my theory. I think the Aerith ghost at the end is their way of explaining how Holy in the original worked because it was always odd to me that Holy just activated the second you take out Sephiroth in the end as if the Materia somehow has a will of its own. With this, you get a more grounded and realistic method of saying Aerith is inside the lifestream prying and waiting for that split second when Sephiroth's will weaken so she can activate Holy and stop the meteor.

I also think that Cloud was so traumatized by her death that unlike the others he thinks she's still alive and that he'll see her again. That would add such a deep scar for him to overcome when Tifa and him fall into the lifestream and she guides him through his own memories as they put Cloud back together and let him take the driver's seat instead of his pseudo-Zack personality.

Now, about Zack my favorite character and (the man I hope will end up with Aerith in the end.) I think both he and the unconscious Arith are actually in Midgar because in chapter 2 after the Zack section Cloud hears the same news clip on the radio about a tornado that swept through Midgar, So that's a clue, another is that we never see Stamp with that Zack at all to know that it's a different world. The Aerith that stole Cloud and hid him for a second before Sephiroth found them is from a different timeline because there's a new stamp. (there are actually 5 stamps in total IIRC)

So I think this is how they'll bring both of them back, and the reason I say this because the first game doesn't make sense if they're not bringing Zack and Aerith back. Also, Zack's combat is so flushed out and you're telling me they won't use him fully in the third game? No way.

Bringing Areith back might make the whole thing cheaper, but they already did that when they took out Cloud's emotional speech and the moment when he first woke up and resisted Sephiroth's hold on him.


Let me hear your theories about the end and about Part 3 over all.

[GibiusMaximus]

So one of the big things for me I think that I want to see is the fact that we see Hojo mess with Chadley, but the plot thread is never addressed.

 

This leads me to think that in Part 3, when we return to Midgar that we will have to fight either some sort of variation of Chadley that's been heavily modified by Hojo using all of the information and combat data that Chadley acquired from us in Remake & Rebirth. We've already seen what's essentially Proud Clod three times now in the form of Pride & Joy, Pride & Joy 0.5 and Crimson Mare - so I think swapping Proud Clod out for something that involves that Chadley plot thread would be nice.

 

As for what I think will happen in the rest of the story, it's hard to say what I expect to happen or what I want to happen tbh. My memory of the OG FF7 is a bit hazy at this point as it's been a few years since I last played it, but given that we already had a memory sequence when Tifa was inside that the Weapon Whale and have already handed a Black Materia to Sephiroth and went thru the Rebirth ending (was that Aerith from Advent Children that came to our rescue?) are we really going to go through the North Crater meltdown sequence and have Cloud be washed up in Mideel this time around? Not sure, but I feel like doing that memory sequence with Cloud probably isn't gonna sit well if it ends up playing out the same as the memory sequence we did with Tifa.

 

Obviously we're gonna have to unravel all of the major plot threads from the OG but I'm not really sure how they're going to execute all these things given that they seem to have already used some of these tings.

 

How did Cloud attach that Materia to the surface of his sword in the ending? Very strange addition if you ask me. Also would like to see more of the unraveling of the Black Robes; as we see Broden is one of them in one of the later Side Quests, and Roche is obviously not done yet given he was in the Heli with Hojo and Rufus post-Temple/City of the Ancients.

[GB-Red-Eye]

1 hour ago, GibiusMaximus said:

So one of the big things for me I think that I want to see is the fact that we see Hojo mess with Chadley, but the plot thread is never addressed.

TBH I don't really care about Chadley he was just meh in the first game and I hated him for how he was acting with his what you could say his daughter? Mai.
Also, nothing in the games indicated that Hojo can control the AI, perhaps he went Skynet and found a way to be free?

 

 

1 hour ago, GibiusMaximus said:

As for what I think will happen in the rest of the story, it's hard to say what I expect to happen or what I want to happen tbh. My memory of the OG FF7 is a bit hazy at this point as it's been a few years since I last played it, but given that we already had a memory sequence when Tifa was inside that the Weapon Whale and have already handed a Black Materia to Sephiroth and went thru the Rebirth ending (was that Aerith from Advent Children that came to our rescue?) are we really going to go through the North Crater meltdown sequence and have Cloud be washed up in Mideel this time around? Not sure, but I feel like doing that memory sequence with Cloud probably isn't gonna sit well if it ends up playing out the same as the memory sequence we did with Tifa.

So the change with Tifa I think is there just so she would believably be able to guide him went they fall in the lifestream in Part 3 because it was always odd how she turned into your guide in the OG.

Sephiroth in the OG just drops the black materia after he kills Areith and leaves which is pretty funny, they cut that part out, but I assume that's how Cloud has the black materia, as to why it goes into the sword. Perhaps they're cutting out the part where he hands it to Barret or Red only for Sephiroth to trick them into giving it back to Cloud (what even is the point of that in the OG?)

That fight in the end takes place between worlds the same place it happens in the OG and in the end of Remake. Though I guess in the OG it's the lifestream, since they do go pretty deep into the planet to get to his actual body.

So the robed dudes are just on a whole new scale now since Sephiroth is gathering them in multiple worlds. Perhaps at first, he'll succeed in reviving Jenova and you'd have to take out both of them at the end? Or and I don't know if that might happen or not. Maybe he'll realize that he's being manipulated by her. Like Sephiroth in the OG is always the puppet of Jenova and does everything for "her" wish without even having his own motivation for anything.


If you think about his life, he was always guided by others and never did something on his own. He was created by Hojo and immediately got put on the Shinra pay role to be the poster boy of their war fronts and after that, he gets controlled by Jenova and just keeps on blabbing about fulfilling his "mother's" wish. Just imagine if they make Vincent tell him about Lucrecia his actual mother.

[GibiusMaximus]

35 minutes ago, GB-Red-Eye said:

TBH I don't really care about Chadley he was just meh in the first game and I hated him for how he was acting with his what you could say his daughter? Mai.
Also, nothing in the games indicated that Hojo can control the AI, perhaps he went Skynet and found a way to be free?

In the Protorelic Quests that take you to the Turks training facilities I think it was, it was def a Protorelic quest but I’ve honestly forgotten which, Hojo catches wind of what Chadley is doing and interferes with one of the other ‘failed’ Chadley’s that’s in an incubator. You then see Chadley get a sort of headache scene like Cloud does before his little hologram dissipates. Leads me to think something bigger is coming with him. I don’t personally mind him as a character, but I don’t like how annoying he was with the map exploration in Rebirth. 

 

39 minutes ago, GB-Red-Eye said:

So the change with Tifa I think is there just so she would believably be able to guide him went they fall in the lifestream in Part 3 because it was always odd how she turned into your guide in the OG.

Sephiroth in the OG just drops the black materia after he kills Areith and leaves which is pretty funny, they cut that part out, but I assume that's how Cloud has the black materia, as to why it goes into the sword. Perhaps they're cutting out the part where he hands it to Barret or Red only for Sephiroth to trick them into giving it back to Cloud (what even is the point of that in the OG?)

That’s a fair point re: Tifa gaining experience in the Lifestream and being able to later guide Cloud, hadn’t considered that. I always just assumed she became Cloud’s carer because she felt obligated to due to them being childhood friends and didn’t think it was particularly weird. 
 

The whole White/Black materia thing is hazy and confusing to me. Cloud hands Aerith a White Materia, she returns an empty Materia to him, obviously she dies and her White Materia falls into what I can only assume is the Lifestream, and then at the end of the game he pulls a Black Materia outta his pocket - even though we’d already given the Black Materia to Sephiroth prior to the fight in the World Between Worlds… so I’m guess that empty Materia became a second Black Materia?

 

Given they made Gongaga a core part of Rebirth’s story, upgrading it from its optional status, I would think since they held Vincent back in Rebirth we will spend time discovering his backstory as a key plot point for Part 3.

What’s all still to be covered beyond:

- Yuffie & Wutai, mandatory section

- Discovery of Lodbrok & Sarruf not being legit, ultimately betraying Wutai because they exist solely to perpetuate Sephiroth’s goals

- Cid’s backstory, beating the shit outta Palmer again, the Rocket? Again would be mandatory
- Vincent’s backstory, mandatory section, perhaps getting to play as all of his various beast forms during Limita? 
 

Additional plot threads to consider are:

 

- Which timeline did Zack end up in at the end?

- Shinra Deepground, Weiss and Nero

- Yuffie mission to rescue Sonon (potentially failing, and his death being a core development point for Yuffie’s character?)
 

Do we think it’s going to be another open world game given the overall desire for access to the whole map? 

[Clocker045]

Considering how summons and Chocobo got expanded, I'm looking forward to Knights of the Round and what they'll do with Bahamuts new form. As well as possible Chocobo farming.

 

Chadley I hope gets a happy ending.

 

Wutai and Don Corneo will be fun and hopefully we get a lot of exploration. I want to visit Costa Del Sol and see Johnnys Seaside Inn with all the weapons we collected and trophies of the past. I do hope little collectibles go the way of FF16. Mementos that have some connection to some characters and add flavor text.

 

Vincent will be a fun character to play and hopefully we get enough opportunities to play Vincent's limit breaks, from Galian Beast to Hell Masker. 

[GB-Red-Eye]

5 minutes ago, Clocker045 said:

I want to visit Costa Del Sol and see Johnnys Seaside Inn with all the weapons we collected and trophies of the past.

Huff that copium my man, Johnny will definitely ruin the hotel and be flatbroke again in Part 3. He's a perpetual idiot and a comic relief I don't expect to be seeing anything but the same husk it was when we first saw it or even worse.

 

 

8 minutes ago, Clocker045 said:

Vincent will be a fun character to play and hopefully we get enough opportunities to play Vincent's limit breaks, from Galian Beast to Hell Masker. 

Vincent and Cid will of course both be playable in Part 3

[GB-Red-Eye]

19 minutes ago, GibiusMaximus said:

In the Protorelic Quests that take you to the Turks training facilities I think it was, it was def a Protorelic quest but I’ve honestly forgotten which, Hojo catches wind of what Chadley is doing and interferes with one of the other ‘failed’ Chadley’s that’s in an incubator. You then see Chadley get a sort of headache scene like Cloud does before his little hologram dissipates. Leads me to think something bigger is coming with him. I don’t personally mind him as a character, but I don’t like how annoying he was with the map exploration in Rebirth. 

Well, I'll enjoy beating the shit out of that little turd. 

 

 

20 minutes ago, GibiusMaximus said:

The whole White/Black materia thing is hazy and confusing to me. Cloud hands Aerith a White Materia, she returns an empty Materia to him, obviously she dies and her White Materia falls into what I can only assume is the Lifestream, and then at the end of the game he pulls a Black Materia outta his pocket - even though we’d already given the Black Materia to Sephiroth prior to the fight in the World Between Worlds… so I’m guess that empty Materia became a second Black Materia?

Yeah, there are two holy Materias in our world now. one that's white and in the lifestream and another one that's clear in Cloud's hand at the end. BTW the black materia is different look at the cutscene he pulls it out of his pocket and then says "The reunion" and puts it in his sword.

 

23 minutes ago, GibiusMaximus said:

hat’s all still to be covered beyond:

- Yuffie & Wutai, mandatory section

- Discovery of Lodbrok & Sarruf not being legit, ultimately betraying Wutai because they exist solely to perpetuate Sephiroth’s goals

- Cid’s backstory, beating the shit outta Palmer again, the Rocket? Again would be mandatory
- Vincent’s backstory, mandatory section, perhaps getting to play as all of his various beast forms during Limita? 
 

Additional plot threads to consider are:

 

- Which timeline did Zack end up in at the end?

- Shinra Deepground, Weiss and Nero

- Yuffie mission to rescue Sonon (potentially failing, and his death being a core development point for Yuffie’s character?)
 

Do we think it’s going to be another open world game given the overall desire for access to the whole map? 

Wutai will probably be the big thing in the background and we might fight a bit in the war, this also gives Yuffie a much better reason to betray the team and steal all your materia before running to Wutai. 

Cid's thing I don't think will be any different, it doesn't need to be, since it's just a failed attempt to shoot down the meteor.

Weiss and Nero might both be part of the Wutai stuff and You'll definitely fight Nero as Yuffie, the way she was scared of him in the temple that plot needs to be resolved. Sonon might even come back as a Nero zombie.

And of course, it will be another open world. Part 3 should be the biggest one to date as it needs to put both Remake and Rebirth's maps into it and then add the rest. It might even beat Elden Ring for the biggest RPG map of all time.

Oh, you know the best part of Part 3!? The slap fight between Scarlet and Tifa. I want that to be a minigame so bad

[Clocker045]

6 minutes ago, GB-Red-Eye said:

 He's a perpetual idiot and a comic relief I don't expect to be seeing anything but the same husk it was when we first saw it or even worse

A possible hope, Johnny in the OG did improve over time and even got a girlfriend. Seems they're following the same for the most part with Jenny.

 

My main wish is to just see some of the past glories and all the weapons as a mark of progress. 

 

Queens Blood is something to consider, will it continue in Part 3 and if so will we get the 145 and a expansion or a whole new set of cards and the old ones are pretty much banlisted

[GB-Red-Eye]

1 minute ago, Clocker045 said:

A possible hope, Johnny in the OG did improve over time and even got a girlfriend. Seems they're following the same for the most part with Jenny.

 

My main wish is to just see some of the past glories and all the weapons as a mark of progress. 

 

Queens Blood is something to consider, will it continue in Part 3 and if so will we get the 145 and a expansion or a whole new set of cards and the old ones are pretty much banlisted

Oh yeah, Knights of the Round will probably be more or less like Gilgamish in this and be a side quest all the way until the end. You might even need to fight them all to earn the summon.

I can see Johnny getting Jenny accidentally pregnant and her turning into a typical pushy Japanese housewife and constantly nagging him for money LMAO.

The weapons will also be the secret fights they were in the original they have been pretty faithful in putting everything from the original in these games so I bet we're all be here crying about how hard Ruby weapon is just like he was in 1997. Ruby hits you like a truck, Emerald was the super tanky one IIRC and I forgot which one of them keeps running away if you don't kill him fast enough LMAO.

Honestly, QB overstayed its welcome for me, I did enjoy it, but good god there were so many players. Like Triple Triad in FF8, I enjoyed it at first and hated it by the end.

[Clocker045]

8 minutes ago, GB-Red-Eye said:

The weapons will also be the secret fights they were in the original they have been pretty faithful in putting everything from the original in these games so I bet we're all be here crying about how hard Ruby weapon is just like he was in 1997. Ruby hits you like a truck, Emerald was the super tanky one IIRC and I forgot which one of them keeps running away if you don't kill him fast enough LMAO.

Honestly, QB overstayed its welcome for me, I did enjoy it, but good god there were so many players. Like Triple Triad in FF8, I enjoyed it at first and hated it by the end.

The Sand Weapon is what ran away I believe.

 

Queens Blood was a fun distraction. The fact SE went all in like Yu-Gi-Oh just made it a blast for me. I honestly was expecting Roche to be a card player and say how the road and his cards are burning hot to run.

Edited March 22 by Clocker045

[GB-Red-Eye]

45 minutes ago, Clocker045 said:

Queens Blood was a fun distraction. The fact SE went all in like Yu-Gi-Oh just made it a blast for me. I honestly was expecting Roche to be a card player and say how the road and his cards are burning hot to run.

Yeah, I'm just not a card game guy, especially those puzzle ones, I gave up and just looked up a guide for the last 2 and that one where you have to win 5 games, You just have to stack like 100 before you reach round 4 and just lose the last one.

[poker_1987]

The game was a nonsensical load of crap it's just busy work at padding. The ending made no sense. I literally don't care if part 3 gets cancelled.

 

The first remake was good. Excited for part 2. But it didn't deliver 

[GB-Red-Eye]

2 hours ago, poker_1987 said:

The game was a nonsensical load of crap it's just busy work at padding. The ending made no sense. I literally don't care if part 3 gets cancelled.

 

The first remake was good. Excited for part 2. But it didn't deliver 

This topic is for theory crafting go bitch about the game somewhere else. The only reason for it not to make sense is if you never played the OG and that's on you by this point since everyone knows this one is building and changing parts of the original as well as the FF7 universe as a whole.

[poker_1987]

12 hours ago, GB-Red-Eye said:

This topic is for theory crafting go bitch about the game somewhere else. The only reason for it not to make sense is if you never played the OG and that's on you by this point since everyone knows this one is building and changing parts of the original as well as the FF7 universe as a whole.

I've completed the original game many times. 

 

It made no sense. 

[Buff_Cupcake]

I just got finished with the main story and it really got difficult to follow in the final act. Loads of multi-verse alt realities made it difficult to know which was the one I spent the last 120 hours in. From the point they got to the Temple to the end, the story went into this condensed, hyper quick plotline that surfaced more questions for me than it answered:

 

- Was Aerith alive or dead in the end? If she was alive, why couldn't anyone see her? If she was dead, why was she able to walk around like she was alive?

- What was the point of Biggs in the plot?

- How did Dyne have Akira style arm-gun powers during the one on one fight in Corel?

- In the scene at the Temple of the Ancients, right before Cloud and Aerith fell, why did Sephiroth give Cloud the black materia and then ask for it back?

- After falling into the void at the Temple of Ancients, Cloud and Aerith seemed to wake up in the comatose bodies of their counterparts and instantly go on a date. What happened to their real bodies while this was happening?

- Three separate groups of fate ghost now exist. Which ones were which and what was each one trying to achieve?

- How are Sephiroth and Aerith able to create new realities and/or move between them?

- At the end of the game Aerith strengthens her resolve to stop meteor, but apart from a few visual references, Meteor isn't really addressed as a key plot element at all prior to this.

- If Sephiroth is so omnipotent, why does he need to pop up 30 times during the main story to demand that Cloud bring him the black materia.

- How does Marlene know the future about Aerith getting killed if she wakes up, when she talks to Zach?

- Where did the Jenova plotline go by the end? What did Sephiroth do with her remains? He just sorta starts focusing on the realm splits.

- how were Cloud and Zach able to sync up between realities in the final fights towards the end?

- why did Tifa get shown those specific memories when she was stuck inside the weapon in the lifestream?

 

Things moved so fast and in so many (sometimes contradictory) directions that it was hard to follow, as well as to understand why a certain thing happened.

[GB-Red-Eye]

On 3/24/2024 at 5:45 PM, Buff_Cupcake said:

 

- Was Aerith alive or dead in the end? If she was alive, why couldn't anyone see her? If she was dead, why was she able to walk around like she was alive?

So, my theory is that she's dead and what Cloud is seeing is either his imagination, or she's in the lifestream and he can see her because he has her materia unlike all anyone else.

 

 

On 3/24/2024 at 5:45 PM, Buff_Cupcake said:

- What was the point of Biggs in the plot?

Good question, This part felt weird why keep one of them alive just to give him survivor's guilt. I assume he'll have something to do in the third one and this was just his gloomy phase.

 

 

On 3/24/2024 at 5:45 PM, Buff_Cupcake said:

- How did Dyne have Akira style arm-gun powers during the one on one fight in Corel?

That's just a fight thing I'm guessing, he has to have something to be considered a boss battle.

 

 

On 3/24/2024 at 5:45 PM, Buff_Cupcake said:

- In the scene at the Temple of the Ancients, right before Cloud and Aerith fell, why did Sephiroth give Cloud the black materia and then ask for it back?

Well, in the original Cloud was always the one to give the BM to Sephiroth in the promised land, we can just think of it as he's giving it to him because he knows the first game, this Sephiroth is aware of the first game and wants to follow the path while changing a few things to make him win instead of losing at the end.

 

 

On 3/24/2024 at 5:45 PM, Buff_Cupcake said:

- After falling into the void at the Temple of Ancients, Cloud and Aerith seemed to wake up in the comatose bodies of their counterparts and instantly go on a date. What happened to their real bodies while this was happening?

Ah, you didn't catch it, those weren't the Cloud and Aerith in the Zack world, because the Stamp dog is different. The one in the shop where she wants the hairpin. To me this just felt like one version of her that managed to stay alive and just wanted to have fun before Sephiroth found her, He did say in the church right before she pushed Cloud, that "He underestimated her." 

 

 

On 3/24/2024 at 5:45 PM, Buff_Cupcake said:

- How are Sephiroth and Aerith able to create new realities and/or move between them?

They're not the ones making these, it happens whenever a major decision happens, (You know the butterfly effect) As how, well both of them are in the lifestream so I presume the Planet is giving them the power?

 

 

On 3/24/2024 at 5:45 PM, Buff_Cupcake said:

- At the end of the game Aerith strengthens her resolve to stop meteor, but apart from a few visual references, Meteor isn't really addressed as a key plot element at all prior to this.

Again, Aerith saw the future and so did Cloud, also from Remkae this Areith had memories or the original, but the Fate spirits took them away little by little, so maybe she got them all back when she died.

 

 

On 3/24/2024 at 5:45 PM, Buff_Cupcake said:

- If Sephiroth is so omnipotent, why does he need to pop up 30 times during the main story to demand that Cloud bring him the black materia.

In no way he's omnipotent, if he was then there would be no game, his whole quest is to be a god lol.

 

 

On 3/24/2024 at 5:45 PM, Buff_Cupcake said:

- How does Marlene know the future about Aerith getting killed if she wakes up, when she talks to Zach?

Marlene saw the future when Aerith touched her in the first game, Look it up.

 

 

On 3/24/2024 at 5:45 PM, Buff_Cupcake said:

- Where did the Jenova plotline go by the end? What did Sephiroth do with her remains? He just sorta starts focusing on the realm splits.

The reunion this time will be a reunion of not just all the men from this universe but all the worlds. So instead of Jenova getting most of her pieces back, she'll have enough and then some, making her ultra-powerful in the third game. 
 

 

On 3/24/2024 at 5:45 PM, Buff_Cupcake said:

- how were Cloud and Zach able to sync up between realities in the final fights towards the end?

If you're talking about them being together that was Sephiroth's fault as he was the one joining worlds and after he split them again not wanting to face them both. That sync is just because if you forgot Cloud is mostly still Zack at this point he was doing the same thing because in his head he's a first-class soldier and we all know he's not.

 

 

On 3/24/2024 at 5:45 PM, Buff_Cupcake said:

- why did Tifa get shown those specific memories when she was stuck inside the weapon in the lifestream?

I said this before, but that part is probably just so she would guide Cloud when they both fall into the lifestream in part 3. In the OG it made no sense for her to be so clam and guide him through it, now that she has experience it will make that part make more sense.

[breakXedge]

I just finished the game and... Wow, tears down my face for some minutes!

 

I thought Cloud was about to stab Aerith at the end and was like "oh no SE, what hace you done!". Then when I saw Sephiroth going down hype went brbrbrbrbbr and when Cloud blocked the attack I almost yelled at the screen!! Hahah I really missed a better quality video of Sephiroth finishing Aerith and then seeing Cloud bringing her to the lifestream but it was still pretty cool.

 

Still a bit confused of all alternate realities and so about Biggs: what? All this story just to have him killed by a gunshot? I don't know... Pretty cheap imo.

Anyways, just ended my first playthrough, 100 hours more or less and I didint found any of these minigames or sidequest anoying.

 

One thing is sure, Zach will come back as he states, so we'll have more worlds colliding and that makes very possible having Aerith again, even if it's just to stop Meteor.

 

I felt I was a bit lost with all "Aeriths" because I think there're several (one per universe?) but felt kinda explained with all the white materia. IIRC after exiting Midgard Aerith showed the materia and it was like dryed out, she needed a new one. That made sense when she gave Cloud a fully restored white materia in an alternate reality and then Cloud gave it back to her in the present. Also, when she dies, tere was a lot of colors in the screen, meaning that new reality created.

 

 

Edited March 26 by breakXedge

[Boorish]

My first impressions of watching the ending was that this is actually a REMAKE of the original game only, in the sense that it is an elaborate explanation of the events of the first game. Some events will be switched around but our characters will ultimately be at the same place as the were in the OG. I think the multiverse thing is a red herring and it's cloud's mind palace with Zack being there for obvious reasons. The whole thing is leading into advent children. The "lifestream resolution" scene will resolve Cloud's inner conflict (the multiverse) and he will realize that there is one timeline only. Also, Cloud is an unreliable narrator and there is no reason to believe anything that Sephiroth says.

[GB-Red-Eye]

6 hours ago, breakXedge said:

I just finished the game and... Wow, tears down my face for some minutes!

 

I thought Cloud was about to stab Aerith at the end and was like "oh no SE, what hace you done!". Then when I saw Sephiroth going down hype went brbrbrbrbbr and when Cloud blocked the attack I almost yelled at the screen!! Hahah I really missed a better quality video of Sephiroth finishing Aerith and then seeing Cloud bringing her to the lifestream but it was still pretty cool.

 

Still a bit confused of all alternate realities and so about Biggs: what? All this story just to have him killed by a gunshot? I don't know... Pretty cheap imo.

Anyways, just ended my first playthrough, 100 hours more or less and I didint found any of these minigames or sidequest anoying.

 

One thing is sure, Zach will come back as he states, so we'll have more worlds colliding and that makes very possible having Aerith again, even if it's just to stop Meteor.

 

I felt I was a bit lost with all "Aeriths" because I think there're several (one per universe?) but felt kinda explained with all the white materia. IIRC after exiting Midgard Aerith showed the materia and it was like dryed out, she needed a new one. That made sense when she gave Cloud a fully restored white materia in an alternate reality and then Cloud gave it back to her in the present. Also, when she dies, tere was a lot of colors in the screen, meaning that new reality created.

 

 

Well, that's actually another theory I saw floating around. That Cloud did stop him, but he just swapped her for a dead Arith, but the fact she doesn't bleed makes me be more on board with the theory that he's the one refusing to accept reality, which if you think about it, Cloud is literally all of us.

Honestly, I think we'll never know for sure until part 3. Maybe it was a mix of him refusing reality and her being a spirit in the lifestream. The one part I don't understand is why did they take out his speech. It was very emotional and moving in the original and now we only get to see him crying, which... just not enough. To me, that speech was always the first sign that he could fight Sephiroth's control over him.

1 hour ago, Boorish said:

My first impressions of watching the ending was that this is actually a REMAKE of the original game only, in the sense that it is an elaborate explanation of the events of the first game. Some events will be switched around but our characters will ultimately be at the same place as the were in the OG. I think the multiverse thing is a red herring and it's cloud's mind palace with Zack being there for obvious reasons. The whole thing is leading into advent children. The "lifestream resolution" scene will resolve Cloud's inner conflict (the multiverse) and he will realize that there is one timeline only. Also, Cloud is an unreliable narrator and there is no reason to believe anything that Sephiroth says.

An interesting theory, I'd be with you if only for the fact that the game leaves everyone and shows us the players Zack and no one else on multiple occasions. So kinda puts a chip in your theory of it all being in Cloud's head.

[Clocker045]

22 hours ago, Boorish said:

My first impressions of watching the ending was that this is actually a REMAKE of the original game only, in the sense that it is an elaborate explanation of the events of the first game. Some events will be switched around but our characters will ultimately be at the same place as the were in the OG. I think the multiverse thing is a red herring and it's cloud's mind palace with Zack being there for obvious reasons. The whole thing is leading into advent children. The "lifestream resolution" scene will resolve Cloud's inner conflict (the multiverse) and he will realize that there is one timeline only. Also, Cloud is an unreliable narrator and there is no reason to believe anything that Sephiroth says.

I think there is a multiverse or multiple timelines with all the versions of Stamp. Also have Gilgamesh running around, the bladesman known for running around multiple final fantasy games to challenge and collect weapons. 

 

If it leads to Advent Children it would mean that maybe things can be slightly better or different but overall Fate is immutable. We shall see how things end with Pt 3

[Am4z1n9_AZ]

There are some plot holes in FF7 Rebirth. It is a fantastic game from Chapter 1-13 but I'm left scratching my head at a few things.

 

Like Biggs in Zack's timeline knew Cloud but they wouldn't have met because Cloud is still in the coma with Zack. Which leaves me to believe it's Biggs from the main timeline who has somehow appeared in Zack's timeline and knows main timeline Cloud which is why Zack was confused about Biggs knowing Cloud. But where this idea is flawed at the very beginning of Chapter 1 when Zack goes to save Aerith. Shinra soldiers are clearly looking for Cloud as one person says "an ex-soldier is with working with Avalanche, target armed with a buster sword". Zack only just arrived in Midgar and has no affiliation with Avalanche so they are referencing Cloud. So are there 2 Clouds in Zack's time line? It doesn't make any sense.

 

Sephiroth having Cloud fetch the black materia to have Cloud hand it to him when it was already in his possession. It was poorly executed. If they just did it after Cloud/Barrett in fighting where Cloud gets hold of it then hands it to Sephiroth it would have been a better delivery and still demonstrates to the player that Sephiroth thinks Cloud is a puppet.

 

Chapter 14, too convoluted to the point that would confuse the player. Not to mention the Aerith-Sephiroth-Cloud scenes took away from the emotional investment and left wondering what is real and what isn't.

 

I do like the concept of two black materias in the ending and how Cloud has one, but how did the clear materia turn to black? Of course it's something that's going to be explained in part 3 and I look forward to playing in years to come.

[GB-Red-Eye]

1 hour ago, Am4z1n9_AZ said:

Sephiroth having Cloud fetch the black materia to have Cloud hand it to him when it was already in his possession. It was poorly executed. If they just did it after Cloud/Barrett in fighting where Cloud gets hold of it then hands it to Sephiroth it would have been a better delivery and still demonstrates to the player that Sephiroth thinks Cloud is a puppet.

Okay, I feel like I'm repeating myself here, but here we go. None of the ones you see are Sephiroth they are all just one of the men in black robes. The actual Sephiroth is the one in the northern crater with half a body missing. As to why it has to be Cloud that gives him the materia I mean I could list plenty of reasons, but you could just say it's because he's the protagonist and he was the one that killed Sephiroth.

 

 

1 hour ago, Am4z1n9_AZ said:

Chapter 14, too convoluted to the point that would confuse the player. Not to mention the Aerith-Sephiroth-Cloud scenes took away from the emotional investment and left wondering what is real and what isn't.

Agreed, but I think this will make more sense after Part 3. However, currently, it's just a bad chapter.

 

 

1 hour ago, Am4z1n9_AZ said:

I do like the concept of two black materias in the ending and how Cloud has one, but how did the clear materia turn to black? Of course it's something that's going to be explained in part 3 and I look forward to playing in years to come.

There's one Black materia, the other one is the Holy materia, only it's clear instead of white. The white one fell into the lifestream like it did in the original. Cloud just hid the clear materia and took out the Black one watch the cutscene again.

[Am4z1n9_AZ]

This thread is going no where. Where in that did I say he was the real Sephiroth? OP should probably get glasses. 

[GB-Red-Eye]

1 hour ago, Am4z1n9_AZ said:

This thread is going no where. Where in that did I say he was the real Sephiroth? OP should probably get glasses. 

This thread is for discussion, if you want actual answers wait for part 3. My answer was based on you saying it doesn't make sense that Sephiroth had Cloud fetch it for him. It makes perfect sense in the context of the story. And Sephiroth doesn't think Cloud is a puppet he is one, he's 100% a puppet currently. He doesn't break out of it until much later when Tifa helps him regain his own memories in the lifestream. 

[Am4z1n9_AZ]

 

9 hours ago, GB-Red-Eye said:

Okay, I feel like I'm repeating myself here, but here we go. None of the ones you see are Sephiroth they are all just one of the men in black robes. The actual Sephiroth is the one in the northern crater with half a body missing. As to why it has to be Cloud that gives him the materia I mean I could list plenty of reasons, but you could just say it's because he's the protagonist and he was the one that killed Sephiroth.

Again where did I say it was the real Sephiroth? I'm familiar with the FF7 plot.

 

15 minutes ago, GB-Red-Eye said:

This thread is for discussion, if you want actual answers wait for part 3. My answer was based on you saying it doesn't make sense that Sephiroth had Cloud fetch it for him. It makes perfect sense in the context of the story. And Sephiroth doesn't think Cloud is a puppet he is one, he's 100% a puppet currently. He doesn't break out of it until much later when Tifa helps him regain his own memories in the lifestream. 

Context is key. I said how the delivery of the scene made no sense. They could of told the same puppet story but better with Cloud passing 'Sephiroth' the black material in a logical way rather than the route they took.

Edited March 28 by Am4z1n9_AZ