Riona (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rionaleonhart) wrote2015-01-27 11:13 pm
rionaleonhart) wrote2015-01-27 11:13 pm
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![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
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?
(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?
no subject
(Anonymous) 2015-02-01 01:24 pm (UTC)(link)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
no subject
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.
no subject
(Anonymous) 2015-02-01 01:45 pm (UTC)(link)-timydamonkey