That makes sense to me. Some time after posting this entry I suddenly remembered the Mr Monkey sidequest in VIII, which felt incredibly out-of-place to me. In VII, I'd probably have accepted a sidequest that required me to have a monkey throw rocks at me and insult my mother; in VIII, with its less cartoony visual style and less tongue-in-cheek overall feel, it was a little immersion-breaking.

The plate drop was absolutely horrific. It really struck me this time around.