The Jenova Project

FFVII Remake Easter Eggs and compilation continuity - Part 7: OG FINAL FANTASY VII

ELEMENTS ORIGINALLY SHOWED AFTER THE MIDGAR SECTION & VISIONS OF THE FUTURE

CAIT SITH

This character didn’t show up until the group reached the Gold Saucer. In the Remake he witnesses the plate fall.

YUFFIE

In the OG Yuffie could only be recruited after visiting the Mythril Mines and nothing hints she had ever been in Midgar before. Now she is the protagonist of Intermission, spending a whole day in Midgar, getting to see Barret’s cell and infiltrating in Shinra HQ thanks to Avalanche. Some main points of this character have already been shown like the rivalry between her and her father, some details of the Wutai war and even her motion sickness.

ROMANTIC RUDE

In the OG Rude confessed Reno that he liked Tifa. In the Remake, when he spotted her on the Sector 7 pillar, he deviated the chopper to prevent Reno from killing her.

Reno: Dammit! You wanna explain yourself, partner?

Rude: Uh... Hand slipped.

PALMER’S TEA

In the original, at Cid’s house, Palmer asked for some tea with “sugar, honey and lard”. In the Remake he walks in the corridor of Shinra HQ with a cup of tea, complaining that he ran out of butter (though in Japanese it’s still “lard”).

Oh dear, oh dear... A man of my refined tastes running out of butter! Shorn of its proper accompainment, this tea...might as well be boiled pond water!

BLACK-CAPED MEN

In the original there was just one clone in Midgar, in Sector 5, and he wasn’t wearing the black cape yet, while in the Remake they can be met also in Midgar. 

The Remake also confirms that also some former SOLDIERs can turn into caped men, something that the OG revealed only in an optional scene in Junon.

OG: I used to be in SOLDIER. Lately I’ve felt like dressing up like this...

Remake: My dad told me that that man, he used to be a SOLDIER when he was younger. I heard he came back because he got sick or something. Isn't that kinda weird? Can SOLDIERs even get sick?

This concept is further - more openly - reiterated also in Intermission:

Nayo: Mako poisoning. That's what happens if you don't make the grade as a SOLDIER...or when the military's done using you.

REUNION

When Cloud attacks Marco believing he’s Sephiroth he has a vision of the Reunion at Whirlwind Maze.

BARRET’S PAST

In the Remake Barret mentions the day he survived from the destruction of his home town, while in the original this happened one the group arrived in Corel.

Wouldn't be the first time I spit in destiny's eye. Whether you can see the seams or you can't...doesn't change that she's always trying to have it her way.

JENOVA

In the original game the first fight against Jenova took place on the Cargo ship, while in the Remake the group fights it in Chapter 17. 

Note: the first form of Jenova in the original was called Jenova∙BIRTH (followed later by Jenova∙LIFE, Jenova∙DEATH and Jenova∙SYNTHESIS). In Remake it is called Dreamweaver, referring to its ability to project illusions, while the Japanese sticks to the original calling it Jenova Beat, hinting to the prenatal heartbeat of fetuses. 

LIFESTREAM

During the presentation at Cosmo theatre (an allusion itself to Cosmo Canyion) the group can see a depiction of the Lifestream flowing throughout the Planet. In the original this only happened at the very end when Aerith summoned it. 

MATERIA

During the aforementioned presentation it was explained how the Ancients were able to create Materia with condensed Lifestream, while in the original it was explained during the flashback in Kalm.

7R: In the distant past, our planet was home to a people we call the Ancients. Many millennia before we discovered mako, these precursors were already pioneering its use. Somehow they learned of the great reservoir of energy pulsing beneath their feet. And once they had...the Ancients developed the means to harness this bountiful energy and bend it to their will. The fruits of their labors have survived to this very day in the form of certain kinds of materia.

OG: Materia. When you condense Mako energy, materia is produced. It’s very rare to be able to see materia in its natural state. (...)...the knowledge and wisdom of the Ancients is held in the Materia.

PROUD CLOD

During intermission Yuffie can see the Proud Clod still under construction stored in Shinra underground. Moreover, the Pride and Joy Prototype (in Japanese: Proud Clad Unit Zero) is a boss that can be fought in Shinra battle simulator.

MIND READER

During the second bombing mission Tifa jokingly asks Cloud if he could read her mind. This is a hint to Jenova’s ability to read minds.

7R:  I swear, your timing was perfect. It's almost like...you could read my mind. SOLDIERs can't do that, can they?

OG: Inside of you, Jenova has merged with Tifa’s memories, creating you.

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

In the Remake Cloud "remembers” two episodes of his childhood in Nibelheim, scenes that originally were included in the Lifestream sequence in Mideel.

BURNING TOWN

During the first vision of Sephiroth in Chapter 2, Cloud re-experiences the distruction of NIbelheim. This info wasn’t revealed in the OG until the flashback in Kalm.

TEST SUBJECT

When Cloud, Barret and Tifa discover the secret underground lab with specimen detained in mako tanks, Cloud starts remembering his captivity in the basement of Shinra Mansion. This was originally revealed only in the optional cutscene in the basement of the Mansion, after the Lifestream sequence.

MAKO POISONING

Mako poisoning is an element that in the OG was explained just in Mideel, while in the Remake Jessie’s father suffers of the same condition. A sector 7 NPC also witnesses one of Cloud’s Jenova headaches and suggests he may be Mako poisonesd (before the whispers intervene).

7R: [Chapter 3] What the—You okay, buddy? Mako junkie, huh? Figures...

[Chapter 4] Jessie's got a theory about it. Thinks her dad's spirit is stuck now—between his body and the heart of the planet.

OG: He probably has no idea who or where he is now... Poor fellow, his voice doesn’t even work. He is literally miles away from us. Some place far away where no one’s ever been... All alone...

UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH

Discovering that in reality Cloud never made it in SLDIER was a pivotal plot twist of the OG. In the Remake that’s hinted more than once, until Hojo openly reveals it. 

No, not quite. Oh, now I recall. My memory was mistaken. My boy, you weren't a SOLDIER...

SEPHIROTH’S DEATH

In Chapter 2 Cloud remembers he killed Sephiroth. This is surprising as in the OG, during Kalm flashback, he told the group that he didn’t know what happened to Sephiroth after Nibelheim incident, even pointing out that, in terms of strength, he couldn’t have killed him.

AERITH’S DEATH

Cloud has some visions of Aerith’s death: after falling in her church in Chapter 8 (pics 2 and 3) and at the beginning of Chapter 9 (pics 1 and 4). Moreover he and the rest of the group have a blurred vision of her death in Chapter 18, Aerith’s refers to death in her resolution scene and Sephiroth tells him he’s unable to protect people in Chapter 2 (while seeing Aerith for the first time) and in Chapter 13 (after she’s been kidnapped). 

METEOR

Cloud, and the others have visions of Meteor and the storm that destroyed Midgar at the end of the OG in Chapters 16 and 18. 

Parallel #6

[Previous]

"I think we're friends in every universe"

Final Fantasy VII Illustration by:  魚與花雕 @Anu_yu on twitter 

He's correct and he should say it.

This.

Aerith could survive, summon Holy, fight against Meteor, then summon the Lifestream and with a stretch of imagination even cure Geostigma and have the best happy ending ever seen. It's fiction after all.

Point is, why did they intruduce Aerith's death in the first place.

It's not about blasting a Meteor but explore the deepest existentialistic side of the story.

Death and life are the letimotivs of FF7, condensed in the main concept of the Lifestream and the research of the enigmatical "Promised Land".

Cloud's adventure chronologically starts the day Tifa's mother died - with her hopeless attempt to meet her again - and it ends at the Northern Crater where he finally understands the real nature of the Lifestream and the Promised Land aimed by the Cetras: death is not the end, it's the destination. They will really "meet again".

Aerith personal journey takes her to understand what it really means to be a Cetra, to rediscover her abilities and accept to be Sephiroth's counterbalance. Cetra vs Jenova. Lifestream White vs Lifestream Black. Holy vs Meteor.

Sephiroth, the fake Cetra, comes back to life thanks to the Reunion and aims to the annihilation of the Planet.

Aerith, the real Cetra, despite her death, still keeps representing life and spiritual enery at their highest levels, to the point to convey the whole Lifestream against Meteor.

Every other character could die instead of her, it would be emotional, sure.

But no one else could replace her in this duality.

Is it really true that Aerith has to die in order for Meteor to be stopped? I've always heard fans saying that she has to die because it's important for the plot and needs to happen so that she can summon Holy to stop Meteor, but if she really has to die to stop Meteor, then why is it that she had already summoned Holy right before Sephiroth killed her? I thought she died for shock value and as a symbol for one of the themes for the story. Whether she died or not wouldn't have mattered.

Well, it's a story, nothing HAS to happen, you can always write your way out of anything if you're willing to bullshit enough. If you're asking whether dying is a requirement for summoning holy in general, then no, Aerith doesn't have to die to summon holy. In FFVII, Aerith successfully summons holy before she dies, only the spell does not activate because Sephiroth is blocking the spell from activating from the lifestream. Hypothetically, holy could still be summoned if Aerith lives, all that would need to happen is for them to destroy Sephiroth in order to stop him from blocking holy, which is what happens in the original. Only, in the original, they're too late, meteor is too close for holy to fully stop it. The way it's eventually stopped is that Aerith rallies the planets lifestream from inside it, to help holy. That she can't do while alive as far as we know. The logical response of course would be to say that if Aerith didn't die, then she'd have been able to tell the party that Sephiroth is preventing holy from activating, and they might be able to activate holy sooner, meaning it wouldn't fail. Perfectly valid response....however. This is a story, and that is the biggest anti-climax I've ever heard. There is a reason that in no good story the plans ever "just work". Holy failing, and the lifestream of the planet joining in, is a core part of the story, if holy just works, then there is no drama or suspense there, no ups and downs, no lessons concerning humanity and the planet. And that's what really matters, Aerith has to die because she can't fulfill her narrative purpose while being alive. The mechanical purpose can always be fulfilled because you can always make up some bullshit excuse for why "now it's suddenly possible!", as we see in every bad blockbuster movie. This is why it's also technically possible to have Aerith fix Clouds broken psyche, just have her magic him whole again. But in reality, she can't, because there are narrative reasons for Clouds fake persona, and it's those thoughts and feelings that need to be addressed by the story, not the "affliction" itself. Might as well go all the way. "well, Aerith can not die, and then Clouds psyche doesn't break, so he wouldn't give the black materia to Sephiroth, so then Sephiroth can't summon meteor, and everything would be peachy"......that's not a story.

I’m not good with Japanese, but these lines sound VERY similar!  

It would be interesting to know if there are others, did you spot any?

FFVII Remake vs Crisis Core comparison

‘Course she did.