rionaleonhart | But, See, I Also Enjoy Young Adults Being Horribly Traumatised. I'm Multi-Faceted.

Crossposts: http://rionaleonhart.livejournal.com/384206.html

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But, See, I Also Enjoy Young Adults Being Horribly Traumatised. I'm Multi-Faceted.

Recently, I've been working on and off on two works of fanfiction: a Neon Genesis Evangelion AU for Kingdom Hearts, and an Animorphs AU for The Last of Us. I've only just realised that this means I'm crossing over four different canons about fourteen-year-olds being horribly traumatised. Why do so many things I love feature fourteen-year-olds being horribly traumatised?

(I cannot guarantee that either of these ill-advised fics will actually be finished, but we'll see!)

In the absence of a PSP, I've spent the past few days watching the story of Crisis Core, the prequel to Final Fantasy VII. Some kind soul has compiled all the cutscenes into a three-hour film over here. It's well worth watching! (Or playing, I assume, if you have the console.)

I was slightly startled by how quickly everything in Crisis Core became heartbreaking. In retrospect, I feel a little silly. Was I really expecting a Final Fantasy VII prequel about Zack Fair to be relentlessly cheerful?

Although the sheer ridiculousness of the new-to-Crisis-Core plot (which, as far as I can tell, is 'hundreds of Gackt clones are terrorising the world') helps to dull the blade a little.*

Zack himself is awfully endearing. I love his expressions.

There's a strange thrill in seeing familiar locations from Final Fantasy VII rendered in glorious PSP graphics. I'm still thoroughly fed up with the people who comment on every Square-related article to say 'EVERYTHING SQUARE HAS DONE FOR THE LAST EIGHTEEN YEARS IS CRAP, REMAKE FFVII', but a remake would be pretty cool. Although there's no possible way it would appease the complainers. I am absolutely convinced that, if they actually did remake VII, with updated graphics and remastered music and voice-acting and a better translation, ninety per cent of the people baying for an HD version would hate it.

Beneath the cut are some spoilery notes on Crisis Core. They only spoil things that are revealed in Final Fantasy VII's backstory, though, so you may be able to read them safely even if you haven't played Crisis Core itself.

I was quite excited when Zack started talking to a guy with a generic low-ranking troop character model and it became clear that it was Cloud. They could have given Cloud a unique model, but they didn't; with his helmet on, as in the VII flashbacks, he looks exactly the same as the other low-ranking troops. It's a nice use of videogame convention - 'give unimportant NPCs the same model to save money' - to show how insignificant Cloud's role is in the eyes of Shinra (and in his own eyes), even if he ends up being an immensely important figure in the Final Fantasy VII universe.

I didn't realise until my recent playthrough of VII that Zack didn't actually die in Nibelheim; he was killed while on the run with Cloud. Even after that playthrough, I kept forgetting that his story didn't end in Nibelheim, so I was very confused when the Nibelheim incident happened two hours into a three-hour film. And then I remembered that I had Zack and Cloud as fugitives to look forward to. And 'two people travelling together, desperately trying to protect each other, them against the world' is one of the things I really love in fiction (see also: Supernatural, The Last of Us), so this was a delightful surprise.

I knew all along what Zack's ultimate fate was, of course, but I still sobbed at the ending and made the most ridiculous distressed keening noises over the closing credits. NO. Although I'll admit I laughed at 'you'll be my living legacy'. Oh, Zack, you just screwed Cloud up so badly and you don't even realise it.

I'm so glad I can enjoy the Final Fantasy VII universe now. I've finally managed to look past the worst parts of the fanbase and appreciate the source material, and it feels great.

Watching Crisis Core has actually sort of made me want to replay Final Fantasy VII. But I played it so recently! Well, a year and a bit ago, but that's relatively recent.

I suppose what I need is a remake, so I can re-experience the game in a fresh way.

BYE; I'M OFF TO BECOME ONE OF THE TERRIBLE VII FANS IN THE COMMENTS OF EVERY SQUARE-RELATED ARTICLE.

* My attempt to explain this game to

th_esaurus:

Riona: So there's this guy who looks like Gackt, and he's always quoting from a ridiculous play called Loveless, which I think is also the name of some sort of catboy manga, so clearly he should be quoting that instead. And he has a wing - just one wing - and there are a load of clones of him running around. At one point they jump out of the sea, wearing scuba gear, and attack our hero Zack while he's shirtless at the beach on holiday. And he has to grab an umbrella to fight them.
(pause)
Riona: This game is really depressing.
RD: Why does Final Fantasy exist?

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Everyone enjoys stories about teenagers being horribly traumatized! Hence the popularity of The Hunger Games.

But yeah, very much a fan of imaginary people suffering horrible trauma.

I have questions about the play - namely, is it an evil play? Like a play that makes people evil? Or am I just imagining a King in Yellow aspect?

I feel slightly bad about saying 'imaginary people suffering horrible trauma is the best', but I'm going to say it anyway, because it is true.

namely, is it an evil play? Like a play that makes people evil?

The person quoting it is fairly evil and has apparently been less so in the past, so, er, maybe?

Ooh, possible evil play! Are you familiar with The King in Yellow? (It's some early twentieth-century short stories that ended up having a significant impact on the writing style of HP Lovecraft, not to mention the show True Detective. They're public domain now, and you can find them on the internet.)

Are you trying to trick me into reading a play that will make me evil, Wolfy? I'm not falling for this again.

Come on! You barely went evil at all last time!

There's only one thing I remember disliking about what I've seen (and played? I seem to remember having a go of it on my PSP before that broke; I thought I could play my old PSP games on the Vita, but I forgot how much Sony hates backwards compatibility) of Crisis Core was...

In Final Fantasy Seven, the breaking truth that Sephiroth learns at the Nibelheim Mako Reactor is that he is not human. The Shinra Corporation played with his genetic structure at their merry whim, and indeed, part of what he is, is alien. And quite apart from having his self-image broken into pieces, this separates him from the one link he had with other people, who he never could truly comprehend: at least they were both human, he thought, and now that no longer has a hold on him. It was this sudden shock that unhinged him and drove him out of his mind, and made him capable of madness like "Mum wants me to ruin the planet, so I will".

Crisis Core: "HEY GUYS WING PARTY"

It just kind of bothers me, that in retrospect, Sephiroth's moment of madness at his own inhuman nature becomes less believable, and more "seriously, dude? you didn't notice anything odd about you and your best buddies at the wings-a-poppin' festival? this makes your heightened and superhuman intellect seem kinda dumb."

Apart from that, though, it looked like a lot of wacky fun with an incredibly tragic ending.

Sephiroth's breakdown did seem a bit odd to me in this game, but I couldn't place exactly why, and you've just articulated it. Even if he hadn't noticed any non-human traits in himself, 'you're not human' is a less daunting and isolating revelation when it's preceded by 'your friends aren't human'. Genesis is generally not a great addition to the Final Fantasy VII backstory.

(It was an incredibly tragic ending.)

oh god you've become one of them.

'If you can't beat them, join them', as they say. It's been eighteen years and they still haven't shut up; there's evidently no beating them, so I'm forced to go with the only remaining option. I don't like this any more than you do.

I STILL DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT CRISIS CORE. I have managed to remain TOTALLY IGNORANT of it. It's my crowning achievement in life.

No, not really.

(...My crowning achievement is still not knowing anything about Dirge of Cerberus.)

I've just gone looking, and my kind Crisis Core provider has also put together all the cutscenes from Dirge of Cerberus. Oh, dear. I don't know if I'm brave enough to investigate.

(Crisis Core is actually pretty engaging! You just, er, have to ignore all the bits where Gackt is onscreen.)

Update: I managed eighteen minutes of Dirge of Cerberus before the regret overwhelmed me and I deleted it from my bookmarks.

But Crisis Core is good.

I once read a plot synopsis of Dirge of Cerberus.

Two minutes later I was still none the wiser apart from two character names...

The part that always gets me at the end of the game is when Zack's DMW reels start malfunctioning during the final battle on that cliff outside Midgar. I think the reels only exist for that moment; otherwise I cannot imagine why anyone would think that they're a good idea for the game. (Leveling up is random! Limit Breaks are random! Yes, let us watch Tseng order another air strike on a razor weed for the third time in five minutes. This is how I enjoy spending my time.)

But for a Squeenix spin-off, it is actually quite good given their track record. Better than Dirge of Cerberus, Before Crisis, and Advent Children, in any case. (And all those I have found to be far better than FFX-2 and its novella sequels, the latter of which involve, among various things, time-travel, Tidus and Yuna breaking up, and Sin returning.)

I was spoiled for the DMW reel malfunction at the end, and I still got upset.

Yes, let us watch Tseng order another air strike on a razor weed for the third time in five minutes.

Ahahaha! I've only seen the cutscenes and bits of boss fights, so it hadn't occurred to me that of course that's something that might happen. Thanks, Tseng.

and Sin returning

OH MY GOD, I HAD NOT HEARD ABOUT THIS AND I CANNOT EXPRESS HOW HORRIFIED I AM. Don't you dare tell me all I did in Final Fantasy X was for nothing!

Yeah, I've played it a couple times by now, and it still feels like a punch in the gut every time.

I prefer to pretend nothing after FFX actually happened. I actually like the characters in FFX-2, but ... the plot ... I.

PS: Genesis as a character makes much more sense when you just think of him as a pseudo-Seifer who enjoys reciting poetry in place of talking loudly about his "romantic dream." (I am not sure which is more ridiculous: "The Sorceress's Knight" or "Loveless.")

Oh but haven't you heard? The latest in-thing for aggravating FFVII fans to do is snarl that they don't want a remake because it'd just be shitty and ruin the original game anyway, so who cares if maybe some people would still enjoy it? *Rolls eyes to the sun*

Crisis Core is a weird game for me, in the same way that Advent Children was a weird film. AC was pretty bad, really, but it got me interested in FFVII (and, by proxy, FF in general). Crisis Core gives me all the adorable bby Clouds and huggable Zacks and beautifully stoic Sephiroths I could ever want, but shoehorns in a lot of things I don't like. Genesis, for one. Reading the fanfic The Fifth Act (http://sinnatious.livejournal.com/106183.html) (or more accurately listening to the podfic, which is highly recommended) made him more likable but ... eh. I felt the story could have done better without his input at Nibelheim, and perhaps with him as a rival to Zack rather than Sephiroth, who was always meant to be unrivalled until Cloud.

Also, Zack dying so young did not sit well with me. I imagined him well into his 30s.

But god damn if that adorable puppy faced Cloud doesn't keep drawing me right back in.

Phew. It's pretty neat to have something I can actually respond to on your blog. xD

I think that's why Square are so reluctant to remake VII; it's so beloved that the backlash, if the fans didn't like the new version, would be huge. Which is a shame, really, because VII could benefit so much from an update; it has a lot of good points (I love what a complete psychological wreck Cloud is), but it also has a lot of flaws that could potentially be ironed out. It's hard to make positive changes when you know that the fanbase is likely to complain about any change at all.

Still, it's the game's twentieth anniversary in a couple of years; who knows?

I felt the story could have done better without [Genesis's] input at Nibelheim

I absolutely agree with you there. Over on the Dreamwidth version of this entry,

kadrin pointed out that 'you're not human' is less of a mind-shattering revelation when your best friends have been swanning around with wings for some time.

Twenty-three was actually about the age I pictured for Zack, but I did find it weird that, having essentially lost four years, he was functionally nineteen. If he'd been in his thirties, I imagine his relationship with Aerith would have felt a bit unsettling.

I've also heard there might be copyright issues with the original material now - FFVII was owned by Square and Sony, who no longer work together? Something like that.

Oooh, 20th Anniversary though. I can hold out hope.

Remind me to congratulate Kadrin on pithily encapsulating everything I felt was wrong with that scene in a few words. I've written essays on that (unposted, thankfully, since they're very dull and ranty) and none of them summed it up that well. xD

That's true. I don't remember Aerith's age in FFVII but it wasn't much past 20.

From the original game, though, I gathered that Zack and Aerith's relationship wasn't huge anyway. She calls it 'not that serious' (admittedly to Cloud, who she's flirting with BIG TIME but still) and doesn't discuss him much - doesn't seem to even recognise his parents. Until Crisis Core, I thought it may have been more of a one-way teen infatuation with a big hunky SOLDIER. Zack, being the babe he is, would totally have humoured the cute girl with the flowers.

Even in CC, their relationship was surprisingly platonic. They had a couple of dates but I don't remember much physical contact beyond ... one hug? Compared to Tidus and Yuna's implied underwater sex, that's incredibly PG.

Did you know that Genesis is voice acted by Gackt in Japanese? And yes, the character model is actually based on Gackt, shocking nobody. I think Gackt has even cosplayed as Genesis or something at one point - it's an Internet Fact anyway, which may not be an Actual Fact.

I really like Crisis Core (though I was originally annoyed by the addition of Genesis to the Nibelheim Incident - "NO, I SAW THAT INCIDENT, IT DIDN'T HAPPEN. I CAN GET PAST YOU RETROSPECTIVELY CHANGING THE SPELLING OF AERIS' NAME IN CANON MATERIAL, BUT THIS GOES TOO FAR." :P but I got used to it), though yes, it's definitely very depressing. You'd expect it to be depressing knowing the ending, but NOPE, it goes further.

I... also really like Genesis and wasn't that fussed by Angeal, which amuses me as it seems to be the opposite of general fandom view. At least the villain spouting random poetry was different! (My favourite bit is the fact everyone except Zack seems to have read LOVELESS and knows exactly what act Genesis is quoting from at all times.) I appreciate what it does with Sephiroth too: he doesn't feel massively OOC, but he's... y'know, a person before he went crazy. Then you watch his slow descent into insanity and it's depressing. Nooo, Sephiroth, stop reading those research reports! Never look into the science department!

(Also the mission where Zack has to save Hojo or something - "no, run! If you save him he'll get you killed eventually!"). I do like seeing the Turks too (Tseng looks REALLY YOUNG).

The ending does fix the character model problem of the FF7 Zack dying flashback, where he's took out by 3 troopers and people go "uh, really?" but I doubt they could exactly fit tons of character models on. So now they're preceded by a bunch more soldiers, haha.

-timydamonkey

I knew Genesis was modelled on Gackt, but I had no idea Gackt actually voiced him!

To be honest, I felt Angeal fit into the game more smoothly than Genesis. I don't hate Genesis, but I don't really care for him either (my feelings about Sephiroth are similar; maybe I'm just bad at engaging with the VII universe's villains?), whereas I had at least a little emotional engagement with scenes like Angeal's death (although I'll admit my reaction to that scene was more sadness for Zack than sadness for Angeal himself). I can understand why someone might be more interested in Genesis, though. Cissnei was probably my favourite of the new characters.

I actually only discovered today that a flashback to Zack's death exists in Final Fantasy VII! Why would you hide such an important piece of backstory in an optional, out-of-the-way scene? I'm looking forward to seeing it at last in my current replay.

Maybe they hid it so anyone who wanted to go "this is bullshit, there's no dude named Zack, Cloud did everything" could pretend he didn't exist. :P

-timydamonkey

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But, See, I Also Enjoy Young Adults Being Horribly Traumatised. I'm Multi-Faceted.

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