Final Fantasy VII Remake: At the crossroads

(Text originally published during the February 2024 newsletter)

Please note, this text assumes that you have completed Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VII Remake. This text was written before the publication of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

• Is this a dream ?

The blond boy gets up awkwardly. Its body, deformed by an assembly of polygons, contorts to observe the environment around it. As far as the eye can see, nothingness extends, illuminated here and there by tiny evanescent volutes extracted from the river of life, locked in an endless dance. His hands, which are only unsightly cubes, try to catch these ethereal manifestations, without success.

• Of course it’s a dream, but yet it’s as real as you and me.

The voice that emerges from behind is strangely familiar. He turns around and contemplates the author of this response. If the man standing before him doesn’t quite look like him, the truth remains terribly clear. At the bottom of his heart, he knows. Cloud is looking at himself. Separated by a few decades, the two versions of the SOLDIER size each other up and question each other with their eyes. A look radiant with Mako energy. All of this makes no sense, but yet here they are, face to face, both different and perfectly identical. The first, harnessed to technical and aesthetic constraints escaped from the past, so charming nonetheless. The second, draped in high-resolution textures and adorned with voluptuous animation. Two Cloud Strife, two representations of an icon in the history of video games, contemplate each other for the first time.

– You are…

– Yes, I am you. A new version of you, updated, refined. Not better, only different. Your story is over now, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be told again.

– A story ? My story ? All these sacrifices, these people who died, the suffering of my friends, you call that a story? These broken destinies are not a story! What you’re talking about is my life!

– All lives become, in the end, stories. What you accomplished will remain forever untouchable, which is why it was not possible to tell your epic story again, in the same way. We had to let this diamond in the rough rest in peace and cut the threads of destiny.

When Final Fantasy VII Remake is announced, the surprise and excitement are accompanied by a surprising clarification: this project will be divided into three separate games. Echoes of the three discs hosting the original version on PlayStation, these chapters are immediately considered as three individually complete but nevertheless connected experiences. In addition to the obvious advantages of such a decision in terms of economic exploitation of the license, a new justification appears once the adventure of the first of these opuses is brought to its conclusion: the game will not be a simple remake, but indeed indeed a rereading of the original work whose very existence is taken into account by the screenwriters. Therefore, if Final Fantasy VII Remake can totally work for a new audience, the game has a reading level exclusively reserved for those who have completed the original published in 1997.

Once this is made, it becomes clear that many problems that should not have existed begin to emerge. What about the content of each of the three games? What about the rhythm within these chapters? How to transform a story thought and constructed in an initial format into a trio of self-sufficient narrative fragments that are nevertheless intertwined with each other? How to satisfy both die-hard fans and newcomers? The answer to all of these issues lies in a single concept, already ardently studied throughout the Final Fantasy saga, here taken to new heights: destiny.

In the depths of the first episode of the famous twin-lettered franchise, the main characters were called the Warriors of Light, receptacles of a weight from which they could not escape. This title harnessed them to a role and a destiny already engraved in stone, they were condemned to become heroes. Many years later, the thinking heads at Squaresoft worked to marry the form and substance of their games. Thus, Final Fantasy In the same way, the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy adopted the same approach, to accommodate both technical limitations and narrative orientations. This is how the adventure of Lightning and her companions in misfortune took the form of a rush forward, also linear and breathtaking, like a path subject to the whims of a destiny impossible to escape (which was also found in the character progression system, predetermined). The Final Fantasy XIII trilogy will develop this reflection over the course of the opuses, in what remains to this day a formidable demonstration of the possibilities of the medium. Final Fantasy VII Remake takes this reflection further, by deciding to unfold a particularly welcome metatextual statement when we know that touching the original episode now proves, for several reasons, simply impossible.

• Do you have any regrets, my younger me ?
• Of course I have, although I never wanted to admit it to myself. I tried to hide them, repress them, until they ate me from the inside. Then I realized I was on the wrong track.
• What do you mean by wrong track ?
• My life is punctuated by tragedies. I did not save the inhabitants of Nibelheim, nor those of Sector 7, I did not succeed in saving Aerith, nor Sephiroth from himself. And if I had the chance, I would change all that. But I also came to accept that regrets are a part of life. Some things remain inevitable, unalterable, and rather than mourning the losses and what could have been, I prefer to cherish the moments of grace. Of course I would like to make sure that the saddest events in my life never happened, but if that meant that the laughter and happy moments had to disappear too, I’m not sure I would want that.

Final Fantasy VII Remake fulfills only one objective: to allow its characters to free themselves from their destiny. A perpetual balancing act then begins during which the story must both pay homage to the basic work, by taking up its broad outlines and the plot development, but also free itself from the chains that attach it to a very heavy legacy to bear. To do this, the writers organize a meticulous deconstruction of the original game, structured around its characters. In order to implement this shift, they must free themselves from the expectations that weigh on them. These expectations are twofold: firstly there are those which are induced by the narrative schema used in 1997, then come those which the players themselves place on these protagonists.

The original game opens with several hours devoted to visiting the megalopolis of Midgar, a passage that serves as a long prologue, which at the time served three major objectives. Firstly, the visit to the different sectors and the meeting with the main characters allowed, as in any good story, to lay the foundations of the plot and the universe of the game. The Shinra Electric Power Company was immediately presented as the major antagonist, while the protagonists were accompanied by some mysteries (the voices that Cloud heard or the questions surrounding Aerith for example). The story arc of Midgar constituted a fabulous introduction, punctuated by its own curve of events and adorned with a climax embodied by the infiltration of the Shinra Tower and the succession of bosses closing this part. The second objective was to partition the players, physically, from the rest of the world. It is for this reason that the first places explored express economic and social misery, before reaching, literally, the top of the city (on the roof of the Shinra building). By opting for this urban confinement, the escape from Midgar which occurs at the end of this prologue expresses freedom, and allows a contrasting change of scenery with the concrete and industrial chimneys. The last objective served to build the legend surrounding Sephiroth. The murder of President Shinra, impaled by the SOLDIER’s Masamune, is an extremely effective turnaround: not only is the main antagonist defeated at the end of the game’s prologue, but a double danger comes to replace him. Indeed, his son Rufus takes over the management of his father’s corporation, imposing a totalitarian regime instilling fear in citizens, but in addition Sephiroth, who was thought to be dead, is back. This prologue, bordering on perfection, ends with the flight from Midgar, and the discovery of the continent which extends outside the city walls.

From there, Cloud and his friends will pursue Sephiroth, until an apocalyptic finale pitting the two adversaries in an epic face-to-face. Final Fantasy VII Remake sweeps away this narrative construction, and brings in the expected duel as the final boss of this first opus of the trilogy. The same imagery is used, as is the iconic battle theme by Nobuo Uematsu. This final joust constitutes, with the presence of the Spinners, the most obvious change brought by the game. Before arriving at this pivotal moment, it is however necessary to study the way in which the scenario prepares the protagonists and the public for this event.

• Where are we ?
• I don’t know, I woke up here, in the middle of this void that seems to stretch as far as the eye can see, then you appeared there in your turn. I wonder if the planet isn’t trying to tell us something. Although, between you and me, I don’t think we’ll have any memories of our time here when we wake up. I’d say we’re just… Elsewhere.
• These filaments of energy all around, they look like Mako.
• Probably. We can’t touch it.
• But if the planet, or anything else, wants us to meet, for what reason?
• Peut-être… Peut-être qu’elle tente de nous faire comprendre que nous ne sommes pas seuls.
• Maybe… Maybe she’s trying to make us understand that we’re not alone.
• From her no. From everyone else, from your friends, yes.

The basis of the Remake project is based on respect for the story as told in 1997. In this sense, the events depicted in Final Fantasy VII Remake take up the structure erected by its big brother a few decades earlier. The game opens with the same sequence, namely the attack, and scrupulously follows the different original anchor points. Visits to Sectors 5 and 7, Wall Market, the train cemetery, everything is there. It is within this faithful structure that the Square Enix teams will place different points of rupture, in the service of the deconstruction of the work. One of the difficulties linked to this narrative modernization lies in the representation of what at the time was only suggested, whether through dialogue or technical limitations. The realism expected in a video game of the 2020s has nothing to compare with the enormous polygons of the 90s. Certain elements have therefore been watered down, such as the Wall Market brothel becoming a trendy cabaret, while paradoxically being deepened, and this, in order not only to develop the context and the universe of the game, but also to extend the lifespan of a segment which would be much shorter if it had remained 100% faithful.

Retaining the original narrative structure allows both to satisfy fans, by allowing them to relive the adventure through a quality of contemporary production, while relying on a story which has proven its effectiveness, and therefore capable of attracting a new audience. However, reliving these events in the same way, in addition to satisfying the nostalgia of early fans, deprives them of a sense of discovery and a sense of wonder that is impossible to rediscover. It is for this reason that new developments are emerging.

Numerous sequences therefore punctuate the story and deepen certain passages of the original. Most of these additions will bring substance to the world and the people Avalanche wants to protect. Thus, we will accomplish numerous more or less anecdotal requests within the two main Sectors (7 and 5), helping its inhabitants and sharing the worries of their daily life. To embody these faces, several secondary characters absent from the 1997 Final Fantasy VII were designed by the Square Enix teams. Sectors 7 and 5 are no longer made up of a single screen which only takes a few seconds to cross, they have their own life and identity. This deepening makes the fall of the pillar all the more dramatic, and promotes the emotional impact of the story. In the same vein, a new antagonist given the role of rival is also introduced in the Remake, in the person of Roche. This soldier humanizes the Shinra mercenaries a little more, while offering stakes to the motorized chase sequence, which helps to revitalize the use of this iconic scene from the original game. We therefore find the two contributions mentioned above: old fans have something to discover while retaining the impact of nostalgia, and this redesign allows us to deepen the world of the game.

Body is also given to already existing secondary characters, from the various members of Avalanche (which also becomes in the Remake a branch within a much larger group) to other more obscure names, such as Johnny. It is thus possible to visit Jessie’s parents and at the same time discover a residential area reserved for more advantaged social classes. This passage allows us to establish a striking contrast between wealthy households and the most disadvantaged corners, while placing all residents on the same footing in the face of the omnipotence of Shinra. All these additions, and many others, are however unrelated to the most important of them: those which concern the assumed objective of the game, namely to extricate oneself from the clutches of destiny. The break is set up by the Whispers, who appear very early in the Remake. Indeed, reality begins to crack from the second chapter of the game, during which Cloud crosses a district of the city disfigured by the explosion of the Mako reactor. While trying to reach the headquarters of Barret and his accomplices, the SOLDIER comes across a demonstration by Sephiroth, who lures him into an alley out of sight.

In doing so, he takes Cloud away from the place that was to mark his meeting with Aerith. However, to counterbalance this event, the Whispers harass the flower seller, which prevents her from continuing her journey. By delaying it in this way, they favor said meeting, and allow destiny to resume its course. Several equivalent examples will arise throughout the adventure, such as when they hurt Jessie so that Cloud does not take her place during the group’s second mission.

• Does the future scare you?
• Yes and no. What I like about this new future is that it is, like all futures, bathed in uncertainty. As long as the future has not come true, everything is still possible.
• I understand. And to be honest, I think I’m more afraid of the past than the future.
• The terrifying thing about the past is that it is immutable. The only alternative is to accept it. The future is, by definition, fluctuating. I think we need to make sure he is as happy as possible.
• I could tell you what awaits you.
• I’m not sure knowing would help me. As we said, I am certain that our memory will be erased after this in-between time. And then I would feel like I was cheating. Cheating with fate, with myself.

The screenwriters then play with the players’ expectations by making these entities not agents of chaos whose aim is to disrupt events, but rather guides, supposed to ensure that the story does not go off track. in 1997. The most obvious example arises not far from the epilogue, when Barret is assassinated by Sephiroth. Very quickly, the Whispers interfere with reality, and resurrect the character, who was not supposed to die. In the same way, they execute Wedge, who was indeed supposed to die when the pillar fell. The end of the game therefore logically pits the team of heroes against the Whispers, through a succession of battles that are as epic as they are symbolic. Indeed, in addition to the narrative issues and those linked to the gameplay (the final battles exploit the different game systems and force each character to participate in the games), these duels constitute an illustration of the desire of the protagonists to exist outside the framework which gives them is imposed, to free themselves from their chains. What is even more exciting, however, remains the parallel that can then be drawn between the Whispers and the fans. The latter have been calling for a Final Fantasy VII Remake for years, with the aim of rediscovering the game through a new, more modern setting. The Whispers can thus be seen as a reflection of these fans within the Remake, which allows a new reading of the events: we are no longer dealing with the struggle which pits Cloud against destiny, but rather with that which confronts -face the players (who control the characters) against themselves (through the Whispers). Final Fantasy VII Remake suddenly becomes a journey of discovery in which fans around the world learn to accept the changing nature of events, transformation. A statement that strangely resonates with the themes explored at the time by Sakaguchi when he presented us with the concept of the River of Life.

To confront the Whispers is to literally destroy a future already engraved. For this reason, the chimerical battle concluding the Remake is adorned with references to the 1997 story. The names Emerald Whisper and Ruby Whisper refer, for example, to the Weapons that the planet deployed to protect itself in the original game. If at the time these gigantic creatures embodied the will of the planet, it is easy to see in these new entities a manifestation of that of destiny. The parallel between the characters’ struggle and the player’s fight against himself is also found in the trio of Whispers that Avalanche faces, each of these creatures reflecting the wishes of Cloud, Tifa and Barret: the Whispers are differentiated by their combat accessories, namely a sword and a gun, the latter fighting with his bare hands. Simultaneously, the combat pays homage to the entire series and its heritage, by allowing enemies to summon an emblematic figure of the saga, the dragon Bahamut, present since the founding episode of 1987. As if players were confronting the very concept of stagnation. Because ultimately, is this saga so dear to us not the very incarnation of perpetual renewal?

The deconstruction of the work also involves that of its characters, and in particular by the confrontation of their aura (i.e. their image as we perceive it) in the face of their intimacy (i.e. what they really are). To make this reflection more concrete, let’s take the example of the three main figures of the game: Cloud, Aerith and Sephiroth. The image of Cloud is that of a taciturn mercenary, withdrawn into himself, sometimes haughty, and often uncomfortable during human interactions. The Remake strives to break this image, by making the SOLDIER a much more open being, at least during the second half of the game, while “desecrating” him. It is for this reason that sequences like cross-dressing were not avoided, but on the contrary supported and assumed, just as the screenplay did not hesitate to show Cloud picking flowers or making friends with children .

Aerith is, for her part, regularly represented as an innocent, almost saintly figure, an image presented in the numerous Square Enix productions. However, the adventure shows her to be mischievous and facetious. This approach makes it less “untouchable” and ultimately allows it to be more humanized. Sephiroth, finally, remains in the collective unconscious this inaccessible antagonist, who only appears on very rare occasions, each of which is accompanied by unbearable tension and marks the different shifts that the game delivers. However, the game does, against all expectations, intervene from the second chapter, as close as possible to Cloud! Obviously, we are aware that the image of the characters was indeed crumbled in the original game, the point here consisting of emphasizing the speed with which this stripping is undertaken. Through this approach, the writers renew the aura of their characters relatively early on, which promotes the attachment that it is possible to feel towards them, while freeing themselves from the legacy induced by Final Fantasy VII.

The rest, we will discover on February 29, 2024. Square Enix missed a golden opportunity to celebrate the 27th anniversary of its flagship game by choosing not to release it on January 31, a somewhat surprising situation when we know that Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is currently finalized and tested by professionals in the field. Is this a simple communication error, or a much more relevant choice than at first glance? Indeed, 2024 welcomes an additional day in its calendar, a three hundred and seventy-sixth day usually absent. A day marked by quite strong symbolism in view of the themes which punctuate this colossal project. A day that, normally, “doesn’t exist”.

• What will happen now?
• I guess we’ll return to our respective realities. I would be surprised if we kept the memory of this meeting.
• What are you going to do?
• Well, I’m going to join the others, we’re going to leave Midgar. I don’t know if you are an echo or if I am one myself. Maybe we both are. But know that everything you have accomplished has inspired millions of people. For a moment, everyone vibrated in unison. You will never be forgotten.

Through this trilogy, Square Enix combines its creation with a time of passion and audacity, and offers its fans, whether new or returning, the most beautiful present. Allow us to dive, together, into the unknown.

And to find ourselves at the crossroads.