#aaaaaa I am coming up towards the end of the game and I’m EMOTIONAL

[super-antelope]

DOLORES DEI - The Greatest Innocence

”When her innocence was declared -- and the queen she had advised for years fell on her knees before her -- she was so overcome with emotion that her *lungs* started *glowing* in her chest.”

[breezy-cheezy]

I finished Final Fantasy 7 Remake

Long story short, I loved it!! So much!! And there’s alot I wanna rant about so here we are. A review of sorts?? Major spoilers ahead! 

And if y’all think you’re immune to spoilers because you played the original FF7, YOU ARE NOT. Lots of new stuff here....just warning y’all.

Although! I did find this great looking walkthrough playlist if anyone’s interested and can’t play the thing themselves? Idk how complete it is with the details, but from a glance it looks nice! 

- FIRST OF ALL the music in it all is amazing!!! From the menu song all throughout, I got Emotional. All the rehashings of Aerith’s theme?? Tifa’s theme?? The FF7 main theme here are there?? AMAZING!!!! I need to find a tracklist or something there are so many versions of the songs specific to the scenes they played in and I die??? Man it is Good. 

- On the music front, I really enjoyed the Jukebox feature! So they could add in old classic songs that story-wise couldn’t appear yet...good nostalgia there. 

- Lil disclaimer, I played the original FF7 fairly recently, on Steam. HOWEVER. I played Crisis Core years ago, and watched Advent Children, etc. And Final Fantasy music has been a staple homework playlist for me for ages now.... So yes I’m new to the whole FF7 original story. But not new in how most people are...it’s a weird situation lol. Like I knew the general FF7 story for awhile but just recently filled the details....

- The gameplay is awesome!! I wasn’t great at it, but...tbh it felt like mechanics combo of the original FF7, FF15, annnnd Kingdom Hearts :D Also appreciated it PAUSED when you picked out commands lol. Loved upgrading weapons. Loved working with materia. I wish there were like...ways to save a materia set so you could easily switch over when your characters were switched out though X’’’’D 

- Biggs is Aro/Ace

- Cloud is VERY Aro/Ace

- Tifa might be Ace

- I decided long ago (in my Crisis Core phase) that Sephiroth is Aro/Ace. There’s nothing to “prove it” in this game but I’m holding to it. I have claimed these characters askjdhuiwdhguerhgr

- Side note, slightly related, but I love how the relationships shone in this remake?? Lots of casual, comfortable touch with Tifa and Cloud (in which Cloud seems in general pretty touch averse due likely to Trauma) in a “we’ve known each other our whole lives” way and gosh I love them. Aerith with Cloud is adorable. Barret!!! Was characterized SO WELL here, and I love him way more than I ever did!! Barret and Tifa interactions as well were so heartfelt and wonderful aaaaaa how good

- Like...Barret haaaates Cloud in the beginning. But somewhere along the way he adopts Cloud instead and ain’t that fantastic?? He just can’t contain how much he cares about others and especially his daughter and goSH I love him. 

- Aerith!! I love her!! She gave such a vibe that she knows more than she says, but is still so cute and sweet and sassy I LOVE!!!! Also that scene in the train graveyard with baby Aerith ;;~;; 

- Also

Cloud: You need any help??

Aerith, climbing a ladder: I’m fine. You don’t need to treat me like a princess or anything~~~

*ladder breaks*

Aerith, completely serious: s h * t.

I LAUGH

- Cloud was actually really cute with kids!!!!! 

- I think I saw a post where they talked about how much more consistent characterizations were here?? I have to agree. I feel some stuff was lost in translation while playing FF7 original, and it felt alot more put together, character-wise, here. I feel like some of that was learned from FF15 and its success with character relationships?? It was Good. 

_ I rambled about this before, but Wall Market was every bit as embarrassing as you would think. *covers face*

- Also I thought it was interesting how they handled who was in your party when! A little annoying sometimes though, switching materia around!!! DX I also really wanted to actually PLAY Red XIII/Nanaki....but sure make him an NPC, whatever. (I am grateful he healed me often.)

- *me when Nanaki shows up* AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! THERE HE IS!!!!!!! (sidenote, in the original, I didn’t wanna call him by his experiment name. He’s the only character I changed the name of. The name I picked? Ignis. :”D )

- The motorcycle segments were ANNOYING AS HECK, especially that last one in escaping the Shinra building DX The game forced your camera to focus on the boss and that made the controls VERY ANNOYING. Cool to watch tho.

- I actually almost completed the game boss fight chain early last night!! But RIGHT when I got to Sephiroth, the family demanded I get off the TV for their use D: all that progress....I had to redo ALOT. DX 

- STILL the fights were VERY cool! Reminded me of KHII end alot actually, jumping around on broken floating buildings and whatnot?? Also the creature looked like a HUGE DARKSIDE heartless lol

- There’s actually alot in this remake that gives alot of a KH feel to me?? Nomura I see you....

- *screeching the One Winged Angel theme still not knowing the words* 

- I LOVED how they showed scenes of the future in the end?? Probably ripped from Advent Children, but?? The characters actually seeing that?? Going “this CAN’T be our future!!” Yo. Also it’s implied it might not HAPPEN now going against destiny and all. I know alot of people are pissed but I am EXCITED. I’m all for a fix-it fic game thank YOU. 

- Speaking of fix-it: ZACK. ZAAAAAACK!!!!!! It’s implied he’s alive in one reality so WHERE IS HE??????? I’m so curious about this new story. I’m gonna eat up theories. I want!! To see!! My baby boy!!!!!! to be Fair (haha) I spoiled myself knowing he was in the game but I didn’t know WHEN!!!

- This is terrible, but I love how much they expressed how NOT OK Cloud is. His mental state is awful, but boi won’t talk about it. 

- Like I know it’s in the original, but it comes up ALOT more in the remake, and the flashbacks/brain short out moments are more obvious in HD for sure. Plus Cloud’s eyes seem more green there, which is a great touch!! Also the incredible FORESHADOWING it brought. Love it. Please someone help this idiot with his headaches....

- I did get annoyed with the whole scene in Hojo’s lab. Cloud’s walking like a zombie toward where Jenova is, saying CONCERNING things, and NO ONE reaches out until he outright collapses? We all just gonna stand back and watch?? Sure ok. 

- Hojo is absolutely disgusting and horrifying and exactly how I imagined him, creators did great job.

- Also why does no one use curaga in these character death scenes???? Potion? Anything????Hello??????

- I was so relieved Wedge (and one of his 3 cats) got to live, and then devastated when they chucked him out a window last minute ;;A;; still. I didn’t see a body. Maybe he’s ok.....*sobs*

- I WAS NOT EXPECTING BIGGS TO BE SEEN IN RECOVERY THO YEEEEESSSSS (I love ANY sign that they DID manage to change the future a little...I thought he was dead!!) Fun fact! The one part I legitimately started crying was when Biggs “died”! Hhhhhhhhhh

- Those dang dementors huh? X’’’D Whispers of fate...there to make sure the story goes according to the original game basically. Does that make the whispers the purist fans of FF7? ...please don’t kill me for that comment sidfiushguigerha

- I just wanna say making a game ABOUT making a remake (that is different from the original) and the struggles in that is VERY meta and so clever and delightful and I LOVE IT. I really wanna see what happens next....

All in all I spent 52 hours on this game. WAY more than I expected for only covering Midgar. And I ENJOYED it!! Some parts felt like the story was being dragged/padded, but most of the time I didn’t care. Also there’s even more to do?? Apparently I missed some scenes....I don’t have time for now, but maybe someday. Or maybe I’ll just look them up ;;7;; 

It’s a good game y’all!!

[captainshyguy]

so uhhh...i finished ultra sun/moon’s main “story” and here are my Thoughts 

all im gonna say above the tline if you want a good gameplay game, both sun and moon and ultra sun and ultra moon works 

if you were looking of a game with genuine emotion/one where lillie and gladion get any further development and their characters dont feel tacked on and cheap...play sun and moon lmao

ok im gonna go good first bc unfortunately i have a lot of bad stuff to talk about and i mean i ALOT which is annoying since i spent 40 fucking pound on this game 

good

god the top screen graphics were really nice like it looked so much more vibrant and the water and grass looked BEAUTIFUL 

the ultra recon squad were great, especially when phyco wanted to throw down with lusamine like same binch 

poipole is SO CUTE AAAAAAAAA 

more ilima content?? THANKS GAMEFREAK AAAAAAAAA literally like??? you see him at the trainers school, then in hao’oli city, then again in hau’oli, then for his trial, then after hala’s and then he’s a part of mina’s??? and he shows up for the festival and he also has 2 sidequests where you get to talk to him and stuff??? and you get some backstory? NICE 

also seeing him with more than 2 pokemon was nice thanks 

like honestly when i asked for more ilima content i didn’t think i’d get it bjdgkdsgkdfs 

mina being more prominent was nice 

TOTEM RIBOMBEE THANK YOU FOR SHOWCASING THIS AMAZING POKE 

mantine surfing is cute 

as someone who only played moon and not sun, im glad i got to fight kiawe this time around! 

gong up to pokemon on the street and getting to like play peekaboo with them? incredible 

elite 4 molayne was pretty damn cool

the sheer amount of cool little sidequests was really fucking cool, i still haven’t done them all/found them all probably???? i like how they’re more extnsive than in sun and moon, like the letters, the dugtrio girl, the hypno thing with ilima

speaking of ‘THEY STOLE MY NUGGET’ BNKJDSGNDSKJGDSG

also that tiny sidequest on route 15/16 where there’s a sandygast and if you talk to the kid he’s all ‘look what i made!’ and then the sandygast turns round and its like ‘SAND!!! DEE!!! GAST!!! with like a zoom in on each pause JKSDGDSKGSDG 

hau really comes into his own in this game, honestly he and guzma are the only characters from sun and moon that actually get any significant character development, and i love hau a lot bc he’s super sweet so?? getting to see him more and see his motivations, and show how close you and him are was a delight, like it almost, almost saves the game for me like hau....thank u b without you i WOULD have thrown this game out the window

o yeah speaking of YOU HAVE TO BATTLE HAU FOR THE TITLE OF ALOLA’S CHAPMION AAAAAA now i’m kinda mixed abt this bc honestly i loved fighting kukui, which y’know, doesnt happen in this game (unless he’s gonna challenge you when you redo the elite 4) and it felt like more was at stake?? like the music was better and kukui was harder so???? idk it still gave me chills fighting hau tho 

the rotomdex was sweet overall, though i do have my problems 

the music that plays when necrozma comes out of the ultra wormhole was incredible, it took my breath away 

bad 

this game took away almost every ounce of charm and emotion that sun and moon had and i’m absolutely furious, i get this game was more about the gameplay, but emotional highlights in sun and moon just didn’t happen, lillie and gladion and nebby got COMPLETELY shafted, and everything that made sun and moon so great story wise was gone

what i mean by that is the main driving force behind sun and moon was lusamine being the evil fuck that she’s supposed to be, and gladion and lillie’s absolute defiance to that, growing, tearing away from their mother and becoming their own people!! it was amazing, inspiring, especially in lillie’s case, seeing her go from quiet and timid to defying her mother to her face, shouting and making her point!!! that didn’t happen here, like yeah they run away, but bc of what they did to lusamine’s character, it felt nowhere near as impactful, and i really didn’t feel for lillie and gladion at all?? or nebby???? 

they tried to keep some things the same, but with lusamine’s character suddenly being all over the place, like the whole ‘oh she has good intentions, but she thinks she knows the best for everyone and does stuff no matter if it’s what people want or not’ but then they kept juxtaposing this, she calls lillie and gladion wretches, then she calls nebby gallant for loving lillie, she still has pokemon frozen in her fucknig hidden room, yet hau calls her a good person like???? what???? it doesnt work?? her characterisation was all over the place, and having her be good and stay at the end pissed me off SOOOOOO MUCH because like....i don’t like lusamine in sun and moon, she’s an evil fuck who was awful to her kids, but what she did made me adore lillie and gladion, and lusamine was a good character, not from a moral standpoint, but from a written standpoint, she was written so well and SOOO EVILLY and they just took that away, and it made none of lillie and gladion’s stuff make any sense??? which really pissed me off bcsun and moon was such a story driven game, it wasnt really about the protagonist, it was about lillie and nebby and their journey!

speaking of, watching lillie get forced down to a side character in this game was the worst, she doesnt go with you to exeggutor island and have tat amazing speech, she doesnt go through the ultra wormhole with you she’s just...there...and her changing into her z powered form in this game felt so forced bc like...what has she been through really, like she run away with nebby yeah, then her mum was like?? being kinda reasonable then not, and oh she went in the wormhole???? that whole aether scene felt so underwhelming, the music didn’t even change when nebby was getting hurt, unlike the other one, with lusamine’s characterisation being all over the place, it made lillie and gladion’s “arcs” in this game seem so weak and cheap 

oh yeah speaking of the aether scene what the FUCK was up with gladion like ‘oh take me with you null was made to be a beast killer!’ are you TELLING ME that after gladion says cosmog will bring disaster and they have to save it he’d REALLY try to go with, which obvious would fucking HURT NEBBY??? WEAK GAME FREAK WEAK 

can’t you tell they REALLY forgot to add anything on type null/silvally it was just...there 

gladion just randomly leaving at the end was fucking insulting, it was insulting because you can TELL they tried to add a tiny bit of emotion by paralleling lillie leaving in sun and moon but??? it doesnt work??? gladion barely has any development in this game/a big amazing arc like lillie did, you arent there to see him off, so it just genuinely feels insulting, especially since gladion actually had no reason to fucking leave lmao 

lusamine’s not obsessed with nihilego anymore?? TERRIBLE that was like her defining fucking trait??? 

also like...what was the point of nihilego coming through the wormhole at paradise, that scene has no fucking relevance/the same impact/foreshadowing or anything, it was literally just to be like ‘oh yeah that’s an ultra beast’ that was IT

now like what they COULD have done was have lusamine obsessed with NECROZMA this time around, she wants it so she can take away alola’s light, so she can catch it and use it WHY WASNT THAT THE STORY, AND SHE COULD STILL BE AWFUL AND EVIL AND CRAZY AND IT COULD MAKE LILLIE AND GLADION’S DEFIANCE ACTUALLY FUCKING MEAN SOMETHING, AND NEBBY GETTING ABSORBED BY NECROZMA HAVE SO MUCH MORE SIGNIFICANCE, IT WOULD PARALLEL THE CONTROLLING/ABUSIVE WAY LUSAMINE ACTS TOWARDS HER CHILDREN and they had SUCH A GOOD OPPORTUNITY HERE THAT THEY MISSED 

there wasn't that amazing set of credits with the photos of all the characters you’ve grown to adore in this??? and that picture that rotom snaps of you in sun and moon you dont even fucking see it in this, despite rotom still taking it?? fuck this 

my 5 FAVOURITE QUOTES WERE TAKEN AWAY ALL OF MY FUCKING FAVOURITES rotom calling ilima a dreamboat, that bit where lillie says ‘ Whenever I feel like there's nothing I can do, you seem to show up and...you do something. Every time, you've shown me that it's possible... to do something.’ that AMAZING bit where she goes off at her mum like ‘Children... Children are not just THINGS that belong to their parents! Pokémon are not just THINGS that a Trainer can do whatever they want to! I am alive! Cosmog is alive! We are not things for you to collect!, that bit right at the end where she's narrating the credits  ‘ Everyone's smiles shine so brightly. Those smiles led us to so many other people. And those meetings will lead us to a bright future. I'm so glad I got to meet everyone. I'm so glad I got to meet you.’  and the last one is Plumeria’s incredible line which really made me like her when she was like ‘no one can make up for what they've done if they're gone’ ever SINGLE ONE OF THESE WAS GONE basically they took lillie’s best lines, and they took plumeria and rotoms best lines

despite everything, we didn’t... actually learn where necrozma, solgaleo and lunala actually...come from/their origins like??? we’ve learnt there’s multiple lunala and solgaleo, seemingly only one necrozma, but like?? are they ultra beasts or not?? why dont beast balls work then lmao??? 

i’m sorry i love lillie but....i’d 100% rather have this amazing strong incredible lillie in sun and moon leave and make my heart wrench and make me cry bc it was so emotional and beautiful, than have this usum lillie stay around, this one who hasnt been through everything, who hasn’t had this amazing beautiful arc, who just randomly gave me nebby, with the whole catching nebby scene completely tacked on with none of the emotional impact that the sun and moon catching nebby scene had, who was reduced to such a side character that i cant possibly feel the same emotion for her

i just...i know pokemon games have always been about gameplay, and sun and moon was an exception but,....sun and moon was the first mainstream pokemon game i’ve ever played, and it blew me away, it was breathtaking, incredible, it was the best fucknig game i’ve ever played, it has the best fucking story i’ve ever had the honor of playing, it was complex, deeply emotional, and still so so wholesome, despite all the awful stuff that happens, it was beautiful, heartwarming, heartbreaking, i loved it and it will forever have a place in my heart, so playing this...and watching the characters i love being forced aside, with everything i love about them being gone was the most disappointing thing i’ve ever had to witness and it’s made me furious to the point where i barely even want to play through the post game rainbow rocket shit (if hau comes along then i will, if it’s just lillie and guzma, then....i dont know) because what’s the fucking point honestly