One thing that I quite like that this has done is it's made Tifa's - for lack of a better term - coddling of Cloud more pronounced. It's not hard to imagine that as he's showing signs of increasing mental instability that the reason no one brings it up is that she has asked, perhaps even begged them not to. She knows something is wrong with him, but she's afraid that pressing him on it will make him shatter like glass, so she ends up act too gingerly with him and letting things slide that she really shouldn't.
That scene with Aeriths' mom... I don't know how many of you have ever been really, REALLY sick. Not like "I just need a few days off" sick but "I feel like the next breath I take might be my last" sick. When you feel like that there's a profound sense that every single thing you do or say might be the last thing you do. And with that comes a great importance to it all. How do you spend those last few actions? Do you try to move? Do you pray? Do you say something to someone? In her last moments, Aerith's mom chose to spend what she probably knew would be her last actions in life in a desperate bid to beg a total stranger to take care of her daughter. There was neither anything else she could do, nor anything else that mattered enough to do in that moment. In a game full of really good, powerful scenes that one is by far the most hard-hitting. I feel no shame or remorse for the tears I'm shedding at this one. Bravo to everyone who worked on that scene, and this game as a whole.
The heartbreak of Aerith walking around looking for help, nobody even looking at her. And then when Dan sees the button to ask for help, and people keep ignoring her😭
I think it's really neat that Cloud's trial is given to him by Sephiroth, rather than by the Cetras, as it is for everyone else. Also, Dan check out those cetran armor! Some have slots!
I love that we hear straight from the horse's mouth that Hojo went with Red 13 because he's red and the 13th subject. Maybe undercuts what's happening but it is funny.
I'm not afraid to admit that I 100% teared up during Aerith's tragic memory sequence. It completely tore me apart, not just seeing how everyone ignores her, but being in control of her movement, directly interacting with everyone, and then ultimately walking back in defeat. It was a masterful play from the devs, getting the player to experience that firsthand.
**Spoilers?** Due to Hojo's meddling, Cloud doesn't remember Tifa's fall from the mountain bridge, his mom's death in Nibelheim, or Zack's last stand. The only memories the temple could dredge up for Cloud that could hold any emotional weight for him would be after Tifa found him at the train station and his love for her snapped him out of his reunion trance before it turned him into a black robe. Her intervention was the catalyst for Cloud's mind to create the Ex-SOLDIER persona as a defense mechanism. Given how the tutorial goes, Tifa found him there the morning before the opening scene of ff7remake. So it makes sense the only memories the temple can conjure are the events of the first game.
I'm wondering if Nanaki's and specially Yuffie's memories are setting up a DLC where the two of them plus Vincent return to midgard to do more dirge of cerberus related stuff.
I wonder if the reason they wanted to change things is because they wanted to find a better way to include the compilation stuff in the story, and if the Gi have always been what they have revealed, give a better ending for them and those effected by Jenova. Yes, even Sephiroth, because Advent Children makes it look like he's in the same place the Gi are currently in. He sounds like he's stuck between life and death. Like he wants to die or live, not neither.
so there's this horror story/ tragic tale/ urban myth that seems to coincide with Spanish Flu and the 1920s, where this little girl and her mom are in an urban centre, might be New York City or some such with a fancy hotel, and the mom falls sick, so the little girl goes looking for a doctor, but when she returns to the hotel with the doctor, the hotel denies that the girl and her mother were guests in the hotel. the only sign that she was there is the smell of fresh paint/wallpaper. yeah. I was very traumatised.
37:07 - I feel like the writers made liberal use of the highlight marker in this episode, so I think I have some idea of what's going to be on the test.
Chapter 13: 2 more normal fights and one more boss. Chapter 14: 2 Boss fights, but one of them is, of course, a massive six phaser against Sephiroth. Hey, could be worse. Could be Nyx Avatar, either original OR Reload.
I'm not sure if it has been noticed, but it's really interesting how, for the first minutes of this episode (as soon as we enter the chamber), we stop controlling Cloud and we control Aerith.
Noticed that immediately - and it didn't take long for me to start spooling up speculation as to why. (My guess? Because Sephiroth's controlling Cloud right now, not the player)
This section of the game has been so good to Aerith it hurts. Everyone just loves Aerith so much. The player loves her, the team loves her, Ifalna and Elmyra love her, and Aerith loves herself. I love seeing her treat her past self with such grace and kindness here and in the train graveyard, and I loved seeing her be confident and hopeful for her future self back in Costa del Sol.
And one more thing I really dig about this game in particular: every single objective of every single quest has a little evocative name (mostly seen above the minimap). They didn't have to do that, but they did.
I cried. This is by no means the darkest entry in the series, so sometimes it's easy to forget the sheer amount of trauma these characters have suffered through, and seeing it shown in this much detail really hits hard.
14:10 I assume part of why Cloud is in this section is because, from Tifa's perspective, he broke the promise he made at the water tower to save her if she was ever in danger.
I totally understand where Cloud was coming from. All he knows about himself is that he was brought up from just darkness and nothingness, and that due to his cell degradation, that his days are numbered. All of these characters at least *had* a past and a potential future awaiting them, but Cloud is exempt of even that. So of course from that angle you would see Aerith's pep talk as just lip-service and wishful thinking. Honestly that's something I really like about Cloud's writing in this remake, making him that much more intense and melancholic and susceptible to do and say evil things. It's so believable.
37:08 “Clock’s ticking” “Yeah … I know” I’m such a sucker for this kind of writing. Possible spoiler below. We know she knew at one point, but we’ve been led to believe over the course of this game that she has forgotten. Did she remember? Has she been lying about forgetting? Or can she just see the writing on the wall?
IMO as she's gone through the temple and gotten in touch with her Cetra abilities, she's become aware of what has to happen to stop Sephiroth and save the planet.
It would be really nice if there was more urgency in Tifa's walking animations in her flashback. Looks odd, but maybe that's just me. Barrett gets a different walk for obvious reasons, and Yuffie's and Nanaki's seem fine contextually.
7:25 I know it's a magical world and all that... But who lit all the torches and candles in the trial room? In my head canon, the reason draugars exists in Skyrim is to keep the lights on.
Good news! It's not just headcanon, there's a book called "Amongst the Dragur", iirc. Skyrim's dragur are like weird, necromantic automatons. There's also a book that explains the claws, answering the obvious questions they pose.
34:10 I see a giant clock and I'm remembering Sephiroth's words to Cloud at the end of Remake, something about seven seconds? I wonder when that's going to come into play.
He specifically says, "Seven seconds until the end, time enough for you, perhaps." I've been rewatching ff7 remake cutscenes recently and have been thinkin about that one for a bit now.
I was pretty much bawling through this entire section. 41:40 God just rip my heart right out of my chest why don’t you, Sephiroth. From like, a structural standpoint I do really appreciate this minor bit of misdirection, where it seems Cloud isn’t getting a trial and then PSYCH remember when Jessie died? Sephiroth does and he’s here to twist the knife in both Cloud and us
I do love this trope of bringing the audience/player back through a character's terrible memories. Part of why I love this story in particular, with all its flashbacks.
Rebirth and original comparison by Playframe episode numbers: Start to 5:17 - episode 22 The OG did not have these trials/flashbacks, though it's worth noting that the centre room's layout and movement is very reminiscent of a particular puzzle room in the OG Temple of the Ancients.
Geez. Aerith's scene there... Hits real hard. So much so that the speech she gives afterward just feels painful too. She shouldn't have to do that, shouldn't have to reassure everyone else and put on this calm collected face of peace and wisdom when she's literally in the exact same situation as they are, just as hurt, just as tired. ...But of course she does. It's what she does best.
11:02 and this is why, now that we are past this point, I am never calling Nanaki any variation of Red XIII ever again and am annoyed that I can’t change that in the UI at all. I also suspect it’s going to be a permanent part of Ever Crisis’ UI too ugh. 😣
I thought this would bother me more too, but Aerith calling him “Red” when they thought they were saying goodbye in Cosmo Canyon helps me buy that it’s become a nickname he’s actually okay with. The party also doesn’t call him “Red XIII” at all, which for me goes a long way to making it not just a specimen designation they were using out of convenience because he didn’t give them a real name to call him
I just take it as a symbol that he's decided to just own the name. He reclaimed it and he uses it as a reminder to what's been done to him. It'll be interesting to see how he would refer to himself in the future.
Dan's mentioned that the game feel or UX or whatev has been a little off, as well as some concerns over tonal swings, but I think that the Trials section demonstrates that they can get it right. Really all of chapter 13 is consistent.
Dan needs to look at the Cetran Bangles and Armbands again. The first ones you get don't have materia slots, but the rest of the ones that you pick up do and they're some of the best armor in the game
Some very emotional scenes in this one that really got to me, but there was a subtle detail that I really liked in Tifa's vision: the town is on fire and she follows young Cloud away from the water tower; when he points to where her Dad is running up the path toward Mt. Nibel, Cloud's posture and affect is just like one of the Black Robes. Such a good touch!
The Aerith sequence was pure kino. The crying delivery is so jarringly realistic. I know what it feels like to cry when you lose a parent and this was it. I really don't know what to say, I was smitten, and it's so good and different compared to how really narmy the rest of the game was.
I gotta say the start of this episode is probably the worst part that the game presents. You literally leave Tsung upstairs with the Turks moments ago then he's magically appearing ahead of you in the central Chamber in a way that the devs almost feel like they gotta wedge in his encounter with Sephiroth. The transition to that scene between you opening the door and the scene starting just felt off and poorly done. Too sudden to feel natural. Like oh ok we're here and this is happening now. Honestly not up to the quality of presentation this game has offered so far. Honestly the only part of the game I didn't like
Me out here crying my eyes out next to our buddy cloud madly dissociating on the couch next to me Also the change in music from aerith’s hopefulness to cloud cutting in is so good, chef’s kiss
15:58 The pedestal did say "Remember your ire." So it's a 'remember why you're fighting'/'remember what hardened your resolve' thing. I wonder what Barret's is going to be. EDIT: Oh geeze.............'That's rough' doesn't even begin to cover it. 26:30 Oh......That's so sad! 40:44 Wait, what? What's being implied here? 42:01 Oh. Good. Not only is he omnicidal, but Sephiroth is being ableist to our (probably) ASD lead too! 42:17 And now he's going for cult leader vibes. [Cloud's at the very least some form of neurodivergent. Think back on the what Tifa recounts about him as a kid.]
The game devs knew *exactly* what they were doing, giving Aerith an ability called 'Noble Sacrifice' this late in the game and I feel very attack by it....
One thing that I quite like that this has done is it's made Tifa's - for lack of a better term - coddling of Cloud more pronounced. It's not hard to imagine that as he's showing signs of increasing mental instability that the reason no one brings it up is that she has asked, perhaps even begged them not to. She knows something is wrong with him, but she's afraid that pressing him on it will make him shatter like glass, so she ends up act too gingerly with him and letting things slide that she really shouldn't.
That's a lot like mental health in the real world, if you think about it. Which is why most people with mental health issues never get them resolved.
That scene with Aeriths' mom...
I don't know how many of you have ever been really, REALLY sick. Not like "I just need a few days off" sick but "I feel like the next breath I take might be my last" sick. When you feel like that there's a profound sense that every single thing you do or say might be the last thing you do. And with that comes a great importance to it all. How do you spend those last few actions? Do you try to move? Do you pray? Do you say something to someone?
In her last moments, Aerith's mom chose to spend what she probably knew would be her last actions in life in a desperate bid to beg a total stranger to take care of her daughter. There was neither anything else she could do, nor anything else that mattered enough to do in that moment.
In a game full of really good, powerful scenes that one is by far the most hard-hitting. I feel no shame or remorse for the tears I'm shedding at this one. Bravo to everyone who worked on that scene, and this game as a whole.
That grasp of the wrist...
The heartbreak of Aerith walking around looking for help, nobody even looking at her. And then when Dan sees the button to ask for help, and people keep ignoring her😭
A scene has never had me want to punch so many people in the face.....darn it FF7
Dan, some of the Cetran equipment has lots of materia slots! They're not all the same! Look at them in the menu!
Last week I was really hoping he would but he’s rapidly running out of opportunities to do so
I think it's really neat that Cloud's trial is given to him by Sephiroth, rather than by the Cetras, as it is for everyone else. Also, Dan check out those cetran armor! Some have slots!
I love that we hear straight from the horse's mouth that Hojo went with Red 13 because he's red and the 13th subject. Maybe undercuts what's happening but it is funny.
When he said "lucky 13" I immediately thought of roulette, but 13 would be black it seems, so that was nothing.
I REALLY wish they called him Nanaki more often.
I wish the UI called him Nanaki AT ALL.
Yeah, Red is probably not something he considers a pet name
Maybe in the 3rd one. 🤞
I'm not afraid to admit that I 100% teared up during Aerith's tragic memory sequence. It completely tore me apart, not just seeing how everyone ignores her, but being in control of her movement, directly interacting with everyone, and then ultimately walking back in defeat. It was a masterful play from the devs, getting the player to experience that firsthand.
Heck, I'm just watching on UA-cam and had a very hard time keeping my composure at work.
Likewise, I was sobbing hard during that sequence.
I assure you, you are far from the only one who cried.
**Spoilers?**
Due to Hojo's meddling, Cloud doesn't remember Tifa's fall from the mountain bridge, his mom's death in Nibelheim, or Zack's last stand. The only memories the temple could dredge up for Cloud that could hold any emotional weight for him would be after Tifa found him at the train station and his love for her snapped him out of his reunion trance before it turned him into a black robe. Her intervention was the catalyst for Cloud's mind to create the Ex-SOLDIER persona as a defense mechanism. Given how the tutorial goes, Tifa found him there the morning before the opening scene of ff7remake. So it makes sense the only memories the temple can conjure are the events of the first game.
That seems about right.
I'm wondering if Nanaki's and specially Yuffie's memories are setting up a DLC where the two of them plus Vincent return to midgard to do more dirge of cerberus related stuff.
@43:00 oh that is some harrowing bit of imagery right there; just driving home how much cloud's been messed with...
it is insane that the thing i am most excited for with the next is the idea of an epic boss fight against Nero. I mean how did we get here?
I wonder if the reason they wanted to change things is because they wanted to find a better way to include the compilation stuff in the story, and if the Gi have always been what they have revealed, give a better ending for them and those effected by Jenova. Yes, even Sephiroth, because Advent Children makes it look like he's in the same place the Gi are currently in. He sounds like he's stuck between life and death. Like he wants to die or live, not neither.
20:54 damn Barret, I get it. [lays down in bisexual disaster to numb the rest of the pain]
so there's this horror story/ tragic tale/ urban myth that seems to coincide with Spanish Flu and the 1920s, where this little girl and her mom are in an urban centre, might be New York City or some such with a fancy hotel, and the mom falls sick, so the little girl goes looking for a doctor, but when she returns to the hotel with the doctor, the hotel denies that the girl and her mother were guests in the hotel. the only sign that she was there is the smell of fresh paint/wallpaper. yeah. I was very traumatised.
37:07 - I feel like the writers made liberal use of the highlight marker in this episode, so I think I have some idea of what's going to be on the test.
Dang, 1 round of .45 acp and Sephiroth is down, no wonder it is called "god's caliber." All hail saint Browning.
Chapter 13: 2 more normal fights and one more boss.
Chapter 14: 2 Boss fights, but one of them is, of course, a massive six phaser against Sephiroth. Hey, could be worse. Could be Nyx Avatar, either original OR Reload.
I'm not sure if it has been noticed, but it's really interesting how, for the first minutes of this episode (as soon as we enter the chamber), we stop controlling Cloud and we control Aerith.
i love that!
Noticed that immediately - and it didn't take long for me to start spooling up speculation as to why. (My guess? Because Sephiroth's controlling Cloud right now, not the player)
This section of the game has been so good to Aerith it hurts. Everyone just loves Aerith so much. The player loves her, the team loves her, Ifalna and Elmyra love her, and Aerith loves herself. I love seeing her treat her past self with such grace and kindness here and in the train graveyard, and I loved seeing her be confident and hopeful for her future self back in Costa del Sol.
21:57 *emphatically agrees* I think they did a phenomenal job with character design. Barret and Myrna seem like such a strong, yet gentle couple.
And one more thing I really dig about this game in particular: every single objective of every single quest has a little evocative name (mostly seen above the minimap). They didn't have to do that, but they did.
I cried.
This is by no means the darkest entry in the series, so sometimes it's easy to forget the sheer amount of trauma these characters have suffered through, and seeing it shown in this much detail really hits hard.
14:10 I assume part of why Cloud is in this section is because, from Tifa's perspective, he broke the promise he made at the water tower to save her if she was ever in danger.
"are you finished" that is SO RUDE
I totally understand where Cloud was coming from. All he knows about himself is that he was brought up from just darkness and nothingness, and that due to his cell degradation, that his days are numbered. All of these characters at least *had* a past and a potential future awaiting them, but Cloud is exempt of even that. So of course from that angle you would see Aerith's pep talk as just lip-service and wishful thinking.
Honestly that's something I really like about Cloud's writing in this remake, making him that much more intense and melancholic and susceptible to do and say evil things. It's so believable.
37:08 “Clock’s ticking”
“Yeah … I know”
I’m such a sucker for this kind of writing. Possible spoiler below.
We know she knew at one point, but we’ve been led to believe over the course of this game that she has forgotten. Did she remember? Has she been lying about forgetting? Or can she just see the writing on the wall?
IMO as she's gone through the temple and gotten in touch with her Cetra abilities, she's become aware of what has to happen to stop Sephiroth and save the planet.
Yeah, adding myself to the pile of unfortunates who were devastated by Aerith's memory, even as I was feeling the extreme draaaaaag of this dungeon.
It would be really nice if there was more urgency in Tifa's walking animations in her flashback. Looks odd, but maybe that's just me. Barrett gets a different walk for obvious reasons, and Yuffie's and Nanaki's seem fine contextually.
7:25 I know it's a magical world and all that... But who lit all the torches and candles in the trial room?
In my head canon, the reason draugars exists in Skyrim is to keep the lights on.
Good news! It's not just headcanon, there's a book called "Amongst the Dragur", iirc. Skyrim's dragur are like weird, necromantic automatons.
There's also a book that explains the claws, answering the obvious questions they pose.
The mood in here has very suddenly switched from Kingdom Hearts to Baten Kaitos, and I for one Do Not appreciate it.
34:10 I see a giant clock and I'm remembering Sephiroth's words to Cloud at the end of Remake, something about seven seconds? I wonder when that's going to come into play.
He specifically says, "Seven seconds until the end, time enough for you, perhaps."
I've been rewatching ff7 remake cutscenes recently and have been thinkin about that one for a bit now.
It is “seven seconds to the end” to confirm, courtesy of my Sefikura brainrot. Gotta have that sweet sweet urgency to up the ante.
Oh hey, it actually comes up again in two more episodes... Still waiting for any explanation though.
I was pretty much bawling through this entire section.
41:40 God just rip my heart right out of my chest why don’t you, Sephiroth.
From like, a structural standpoint I do really appreciate this minor bit of misdirection, where it seems Cloud isn’t getting a trial and then PSYCH remember when Jessie died? Sephiroth does and he’s here to twist the knife in both Cloud and us
Yeah that moment you timestamped lacks heterosexual explanation!
@@RozenGermainNot even a little what I meant
I do love this trope of bringing the audience/player back through a character's terrible memories. Part of why I love this story in particular, with all its flashbacks.
The whole temple section has been great, but I still kind of miss the nyum nyum guys from the original.
I feel like our party is about to join the straw hat crew with all these tragic backstories.
42:43 sir that hand slide there is... is it necessary (not a complaint)
Damn... Aerith's trial got me tearing up pretty bad... that one hurt.
Rebirth and original comparison by Playframe episode numbers:
Start to 5:17 - episode 22
The OG did not have these trials/flashbacks, though it's worth noting that the centre room's layout and movement is very reminiscent of a particular puzzle room in the OG Temple of the Ancients.
Geez. Aerith's scene there... Hits real hard.
So much so that the speech she gives afterward just feels painful too. She shouldn't have to do that, shouldn't have to reassure everyone else and put on this calm collected face of peace and wisdom when she's literally in the exact same situation as they are, just as hurt, just as tired. ...But of course she does. It's what she does best.
Cloud doesn't need no temple trial to dig in his past. Dude got plenty of trauma to have disassociating flashbacks on his own.
Damn... The music theme remixes in this episode are brutal in how hard they are hitting...
11:02 and this is why, now that we are past this point, I am never calling Nanaki any variation of Red XIII ever again and am annoyed that I can’t change that in the UI at all. I also suspect it’s going to be a permanent part of Ever Crisis’ UI too ugh. 😣
I thought this would bother me more too, but Aerith calling him “Red” when they thought they were saying goodbye in Cosmo Canyon helps me buy that it’s become a nickname he’s actually okay with.
The party also doesn’t call him “Red XIII” at all, which for me goes a long way to making it not just a specimen designation they were using out of convenience because he didn’t give them a real name to call him
I just take it as a symbol that he's decided to just own the name. He reclaimed it and he uses it as a reminder to what's been done to him. It'll be interesting to see how he would refer to himself in the future.
Dan's mentioned that the game feel or UX or whatev has been a little off, as well as some concerns over tonal swings, but I think that the Trials section demonstrates that they can get it right. Really all of chapter 13 is consistent.
Dan needs to look at the Cetran Bangles and Armbands again. The first ones you get don't have materia slots, but the rest of the ones that you pick up do and they're some of the best armor in the game
CETRAN ARMPIT 😝💕
@@asundayraine 😂 woops! Darn autocorrect!
Some very emotional scenes in this one that really got to me, but there was a subtle detail that I really liked in Tifa's vision: the town is on fire and she follows young Cloud away from the water tower; when he points to where her Dad is running up the path toward Mt. Nibel, Cloud's posture and affect is just like one of the Black Robes. Such a good touch!
The Aerith sequence was pure kino. The crying delivery is so jarringly realistic. I know what it feels like to cry when you lose a parent and this was it. I really don't know what to say, I was smitten, and it's so good and different compared to how really narmy the rest of the game was.
I gotta say the start of this episode is probably the worst part that the game presents. You literally leave Tsung upstairs with the Turks moments ago then he's magically appearing ahead of you in the central Chamber in a way that the devs almost feel like they gotta wedge in his encounter with Sephiroth.
The transition to that scene between you opening the door and the scene starting just felt off and poorly done. Too sudden to feel natural. Like oh ok we're here and this is happening now. Honestly not up to the quality of presentation this game has offered so far. Honestly the only part of the game I didn't like
Me out here crying my eyes out next to our buddy cloud madly dissociating on the couch next to me
Also the change in music from aerith’s hopefulness to cloud cutting in is so good, chef’s kiss
I chose a wrong day to watch this series :(
15:58 The pedestal did say "Remember your ire." So it's a 'remember why you're fighting'/'remember what hardened your resolve' thing. I wonder what Barret's is going to be.
EDIT: Oh geeze.............'That's rough' doesn't even begin to cover it.
26:30 Oh......That's so sad!
40:44 Wait, what? What's being implied here?
42:01 Oh. Good. Not only is he omnicidal, but Sephiroth is being ableist to our (probably) ASD lead too! 42:17 And now he's going for cult leader vibes.
[Cloud's at the very least some form of neurodivergent. Think back on the what Tifa recounts about him as a kid.]
The game devs knew *exactly* what they were doing, giving Aerith an ability called 'Noble Sacrifice' this late in the game and I feel very attack by it....
This makes me wish Cloud had more time to hang out with Sora.
The end begins
And the beginning ends.