I'm gonna put in a big vote for the FF romances being my favorite part, lol. I actually only recently beat FF7, after playing it back on the original PS1, and I was in tears, just the way I was with FFX, at the ending shot, and not to mention Tifa's beautiful love for Cloud and helping him rearrange himself. That said, I thought Aeris was my favorite, hence the ending really getting to me.
As for Jenova, even this time, I just didn't pay enough attention to explain almost anything about what she was, or did. Haha, that one just went right over me.
Also, finally, this was mind-blowing: I saw a video saying that Cloud had "Pre-Emptive Strike" as a materia in the flashback, so that's how he hit Sephiroth first. And off-guard, I guess.
I understand, my view is that we could have had Jenova be more than a punch line, or something you could ignore as she's supposed to be the main villain of FF7.
That said, I like the idea of complex stories, for FF stories although the love-stories are usually REALLY REALLY well-written. I must admit that the one in FFX chokes me up a little. So do understand your point of view
Yeah, it’s amazing how they take the most convoluted mess of plotlines and just throw in a beautiful, romantic relationship that breaks your heart. Lol, that can happen right beside the demonic angels.
Yeah, I think you really hit a problem on the head, and maybe indeed the main one. Proof being none other than that I read your article, played the game, and still don’t know exactly what Jenova was supposed to be.
Jenova is supposed to be an alien who hit the earth, is something of an 'alien infection' seeking to infect the lifestream, she corrupted Sephiroth and then apparently took on his form and shape after he died. She seeks to destroy the earth, to devour its energy and then move on to the next planet.
My proposal was to have her take on a physical shape and as Tifa doesn't have any other role in the story why not make her Jenova? But I can see why others would disagree with that.
As to the love-stories yeah, have you seen the story of FF6? Geeze that one's heart-rending with some gut-wrenching love-stories.
WHOA. You just blew my mind, with that first paragraph. I had no idea what that was, like, I did not know Sephiroth was actually Jenova, and that she was an alien hurting the Earth. I remember all that Earth stuff, but I didn’t realize it was supposed to be literally just an alien through Jenova that was fighting Earth.
Yeah, now that you explain that, or that I get it, lol, I understand what you were doing with Tifa. I still like Sephiroth, just aesthetically and by his character traits, being the villain, and I still actually felt a connection with Tifa’s sweet longing for Cloud, but that would be a hell of an edge to the story, and it would arguably make Sephiroth a comparably interesting character to what he is as the Iconic.
I played through FF6, but I was doing it mostly with the sound off or way down because my apartment had pretty thin walls, and so I think I basically just missed the impact of the whole story. Ugh, maybe I’ll play it again, someday.
Thanks, and I feel the game didn't fully explain the alien thing half so well as Dirge of Cerberus did (which clarified it for me years ago).
As to Sephiroth he does have a good aesthetic I agree, and think that Tifa's longing is countered by the violation of his trust in that she should have told him the truth (Cloud I mean) and that she was duty-bound to the truth. That said, I think I kind of also pity her, as Cloud's never gonna go for her, because he's too into Aerith. I have an article planned down the road explaining Cloud & Aerith's story and that of Tifa in the actual canon clarifying some stuff and tracing things.
I'm glad you think this would have made him an interesting character (Sephiroth), I think I like him as a villain in Kingdom Hearts. So when I wrote this essay it was as much me wondering if this could work(?). I don't have a problem with him as a villain, I'm just pondering what might have been.
You really should play FF6, I've been considering doing a series of livestreams/podcast playthroughs then discussion podcast then writing articles about it, Suikoden, VP: Lenneth and then also Tales of Symphonia. These four games I consider the greatest of all JRPGs. But dunno if people would be interested in such an undertaking.
It might be ambitious, but then again, people don’t open the door on YouTube unless it’s a four-hour series retrospective, lol, so you might be in good company.
I’ll play it again, probably, and Tifa was endearing to me I think almost partially based on that. It seemed so real to me that she would have hid that from him, and almost seemed like something you don’t get a lot from romance because it’s so slightly ugly. In any case, you have opened up a lot more criticism for this game than I had even thought about.
Try checking out my Darkspire Conspiracy it’s quite serious fiction, the Tifa essay was simply my analysis of a popular game and how it might have turned out.
I'm gonna put in a big vote for the FF romances being my favorite part, lol. I actually only recently beat FF7, after playing it back on the original PS1, and I was in tears, just the way I was with FFX, at the ending shot, and not to mention Tifa's beautiful love for Cloud and helping him rearrange himself. That said, I thought Aeris was my favorite, hence the ending really getting to me.
As for Jenova, even this time, I just didn't pay enough attention to explain almost anything about what she was, or did. Haha, that one just went right over me.
Also, finally, this was mind-blowing: I saw a video saying that Cloud had "Pre-Emptive Strike" as a materia in the flashback, so that's how he hit Sephiroth first. And off-guard, I guess.
I understand, my view is that we could have had Jenova be more than a punch line, or something you could ignore as she's supposed to be the main villain of FF7.
That said, I like the idea of complex stories, for FF stories although the love-stories are usually REALLY REALLY well-written. I must admit that the one in FFX chokes me up a little. So do understand your point of view
Yeah, it’s amazing how they take the most convoluted mess of plotlines and just throw in a beautiful, romantic relationship that breaks your heart. Lol, that can happen right beside the demonic angels.
Yeah, I think you really hit a problem on the head, and maybe indeed the main one. Proof being none other than that I read your article, played the game, and still don’t know exactly what Jenova was supposed to be.
Jenova is supposed to be an alien who hit the earth, is something of an 'alien infection' seeking to infect the lifestream, she corrupted Sephiroth and then apparently took on his form and shape after he died. She seeks to destroy the earth, to devour its energy and then move on to the next planet.
My proposal was to have her take on a physical shape and as Tifa doesn't have any other role in the story why not make her Jenova? But I can see why others would disagree with that.
As to the love-stories yeah, have you seen the story of FF6? Geeze that one's heart-rending with some gut-wrenching love-stories.
WHOA. You just blew my mind, with that first paragraph. I had no idea what that was, like, I did not know Sephiroth was actually Jenova, and that she was an alien hurting the Earth. I remember all that Earth stuff, but I didn’t realize it was supposed to be literally just an alien through Jenova that was fighting Earth.
Yeah, now that you explain that, or that I get it, lol, I understand what you were doing with Tifa. I still like Sephiroth, just aesthetically and by his character traits, being the villain, and I still actually felt a connection with Tifa’s sweet longing for Cloud, but that would be a hell of an edge to the story, and it would arguably make Sephiroth a comparably interesting character to what he is as the Iconic.
I played through FF6, but I was doing it mostly with the sound off or way down because my apartment had pretty thin walls, and so I think I basically just missed the impact of the whole story. Ugh, maybe I’ll play it again, someday.
Thanks, and I feel the game didn't fully explain the alien thing half so well as Dirge of Cerberus did (which clarified it for me years ago).
As to Sephiroth he does have a good aesthetic I agree, and think that Tifa's longing is countered by the violation of his trust in that she should have told him the truth (Cloud I mean) and that she was duty-bound to the truth. That said, I think I kind of also pity her, as Cloud's never gonna go for her, because he's too into Aerith. I have an article planned down the road explaining Cloud & Aerith's story and that of Tifa in the actual canon clarifying some stuff and tracing things.
I'm glad you think this would have made him an interesting character (Sephiroth), I think I like him as a villain in Kingdom Hearts. So when I wrote this essay it was as much me wondering if this could work(?). I don't have a problem with him as a villain, I'm just pondering what might have been.
You really should play FF6, I've been considering doing a series of livestreams/podcast playthroughs then discussion podcast then writing articles about it, Suikoden, VP: Lenneth and then also Tales of Symphonia. These four games I consider the greatest of all JRPGs. But dunno if people would be interested in such an undertaking.
It might be ambitious, but then again, people don’t open the door on YouTube unless it’s a four-hour series retrospective, lol, so you might be in good company.
I’ll play it again, probably, and Tifa was endearing to me I think almost partially based on that. It seemed so real to me that she would have hid that from him, and almost seemed like something you don’t get a lot from romance because it’s so slightly ugly. In any case, you have opened up a lot more criticism for this game than I had even thought about.
Wow this seems very serious, fiction writers. This is so much more serious than anything a girl could write, I’m sure 🙄
Try checking out my Darkspire Conspiracy it’s quite serious fiction, the Tifa essay was simply my analysis of a popular game and how it might have turned out.
As to the Darkspire novel, I recommend reading that instead, as it’s essentially a bi-monthly LOTR novel. And doesn’t have to make reference to Donald Trump. Here is the link, https://canadianculturecorner.substack.com/p/darkspire-conspiracy-chapter-1-a