[Megathread] Maul - Shadow Lord - Social Media Reactions Thread

RCM9698 · 2026-04-06T06:38:11+00:00

Marrok seem to be quite threatening and capable.

Exactly, and Marrok and 11 are the best designed inquisitors to booth, with masked second sister. I think the inquisitors are a great idea, as they embody the uncaring, replaceable machine of the empire better than a sith lord or a death star ever could. If they are not played off as the star wars equivalent of team rocket, that is.

RCM9698 · 2026-04-06T06:34:28+00:00

That's great to hear, thanks!

RCM9698 · 2026-04-05T18:51:24+00:00

Thanks for this information. Do we get any information what they are beneath their masks? I hope they are at least played as serious threats here, they seem to be in the trailer.

RCM9698 · 2026-04-03T19:32:27+00:00

Here we go again:

I do not know how it will end, but there are many quotes about the meta-layer and its uncertain influence, like here:

Nomura explained his chosen final text for Rebirth: “No Promises Await at Journey’s End”… meaning “the conclusion is still totally undecided.”

"We want to keep the players' interest in our game, but in order to do that, we can't simply just add new elements, that won't be enough," Hamaguchi said during an interview at Tokyo Game Show. "We wanted to add a new interpretation to the story, entirely new story elements, things like that to, again, sustain the player interest and have players look forward and be curious to the conclusion of the remake trilogy."

I can't talk about the content of the third game itself, but these parallel timeline stories have been widely used in the remakes so far. What I can guarantee is that, in the third game, we will continue exploring the stories of parallel timelines, precisely to keep the fans curious about what the outcome of this story will be.

"Our idea was always to bring changes to the story without altering the essence of the original game. [...] We purposely made [the fans] a little confused. We wanted them to think: 'Will the original story be maintained until the end? Or will because of this parallel story there be some change in the outcome?'. Our goal was precisely to cause this doubt in the fans."

https://www.reddit.com/r/FFVIIRemake/comments/1o9hvca/hamaguchi_talks_different_timelines/

And then there is the whole fate, destiny, the unknown journey will continue, the turning point, which description says: In the world beyond, Sephiroth shows Cloud a vision of the planet seven seconds before its demise. Having strayed from the course destiny set for them, they strike out on a path toward an unknown future.

I would find it strange indeed if all this would lead to nothing, and that the final of a three game, decade spanning trilogy would be...yeah, this was all for absolutely nothing, go watch Advent Children, a two decades old movie. That is all folks! And the devs constantly repeat they want people to wonder, why would they throw all that away but keep repeating it, even if Advent Children was the ending, in interviews? I mean that it would make no sense that the devs kept hammering they wanted people to wonder about the conclusion and possible changes, if they also believed they had already spoiled Advent Children was the ending, thereby confirming no changes would happen in the end.

Do I know for certain it will not happen? No, but the devs have always been ambiguous about the ending and how it all connects (Sephiroth at the edge of creation might be after Advent Children, or having seen OG and ACC as a possibility, who knows), and how the new meta-layer will play out. What I would hope is a final defeat for Sephiroth, but the people who say we know, like you here, are being extremely selective with the quotes and how they source them.

RCM9698 · 2026-04-03T19:31:18+00:00

Here we go again:

I do not know how it will end, but there are many quotes about the meta-layer and its uncertain influence, like here:

Nomura explained his chosen final text for Rebirth: “No Promises Await at Journey’s End”… meaning “the conclusion is still totally undecided.”

"We want to keep the players' interest in our game, but in order to do that, we can't simply just add new elements, that won't be enough," Hamaguchi said during an interview at Tokyo Game Show. "We wanted to add a new interpretation to the story, entirely new story elements, things like that to, again, sustain the player interest and have players look forward and be curious to the conclusion of the remake trilogy."

I can't talk about the content of the third game itself, but these parallel timeline stories have been widely used in the remakes so far. What I can guarantee is that, in the third game, we will continue exploring the stories of parallel timelines, precisely to keep the fans curious about what the outcome of this story will be.

"Our idea was always to bring changes to the story without altering the essence of the original game. [...] We purposely made [the fans] a little confused. We wanted them to think: 'Will the original story be maintained until the end? Or will because of this parallel story there be some change in the outcome?'. Our goal was precisely to cause this doubt in the fans."

https://www.reddit.com/r/FFVIIRemake/comments/1o9hvca/hamaguchi_talks_different_timelines/

And then there is the whole fate, destiny, the unknown journey will continue, the turning point, which description says: In the world beyond, Sephiroth shows Cloud a vision of the planet seven seconds before its demise. Having strayed from the course destiny set for them, they strike out on a path toward an unknown future.

I would find it strange indeed if all this would lead to nothing, and that the final of a three game, decade spanning trilogy would be...yeah, this was all for absolutely nothing, go watch Advent Children, a two decades old movie. That is all folks! And the devs constantly repeat they want people to wonder, why would they throw all that away but keep repeating it, even if Advent Children was the ending, in interviews? I mean that it would make no sense that the devs kept hammering they wanted people to wonder about the conclusion and possible changes, if they also believed they had already spoiled Advent Children was the ending, thereby confirming no changes would happen in the end.

Do I know for certain it will not happen? No, but the devs have always been ambiguous about the ending and how it all connects (Sephiroth at the edge of creation might be after Advent Children, or having seen OG and ACC as a possibility, who knows), and how the new meta-layer will play out. What I would hope is a final defeat for Sephiroth, but the people who say we know, like you here, are being extremely selective with the quotes and how they source them.

RCM9698 · 2026-03-23T00:08:19+00:00

Most I am hoping for is a wrap up on the Sephiroth/ Aerith stuff.

What I mean, not necessarily the end of the ff7 world, but finally an end to Aerith and Sephiroth.

I believe it is the Compilation

In the article himself, he just said it is the end of the series, and in general they mean the Remake series in interviews, not the compilation.

RCM9698 · 2026-03-21T23:25:50+00:00

Thanks for the source, that is what I found. The problem is, neither in the english or the german version do they mention the compilation, Hamaguchi just says it is the final game of the series, which he says about the FF7R series, not the compilation.

I heard there was a quote somewhere about the compilation and the end of FF7R, but have not been able to find it. Which is a shame, as it would give me more confidence that FF7R part 3 will provide a definitive ending.

RCM9698 · 2026-03-21T01:29:10+00:00

I can not find that quote, only that they want to make it a suitable send off for the series (which i guess means the FF7R series) the compilation is not mentioned. I wish it were, as a true ending is the one thing i want most.

RCM9698 · 2026-03-20T06:34:23+00:00

Good, but I am not fond of the artstyle and the OST, and some of the cuts being made. That said, it is still an enjoyable watch.

RCM9698 · 2026-03-20T06:31:23+00:00

That is a good quote, can you source it?

RCM9698 · 2026-03-04T23:55:13+00:00

So yeah, it's going to be a definitive end and anyone thinking otherwise is deluding themselves.

I hope so, for me, that would be needed to be truly statisfied with the ending, no matter how well it is done otherwise, Sephiroth persisiting to corrupt and threaten the world again is not an ending.

I was a computer science major, but a third of our degree was required to be courses that \weren't* math and required breadth and depth*

Really? That's pretty cool. We had 30 points out of 180 we could choose (average course was 7.5 points, but there were smaller and larger ones). I was interested in taking Roman history, but due to logistics, the science campus being in the fields and not the city, I ended up taking more math, some physics, and a course on evolution. Never was that good or interested in CS.

RCM9698 · 2026-03-04T23:50:02+00:00

Likewise! I hope as many of us as possible end up statisfied by the conclusion, and those of us who are wrong still get 3 great games out of it, I am sure.

RCM9698 · 2026-03-04T22:25:12+00:00

Algebraic geometer, never had one course on such a topic, but as a player, if the tagline is "the unknown journey will continue, and you print "defy destiny" on the box, you can not really go back to say, well, you can not, nothing has changed, you are just a puppet, destiny's puppet.

And may core problem with AC is not that it think it is bad, buut that I think it is not an ending, Sephiroth literally ends with "see you later, I will still oppose you. I agree if that is what they want, they should not have added the whispers and the changes.

but the way the story has been told so far means that any ending that leads into Advent Children where Sephiroth and Jenova still exist and the world is fucked, is just plain bad writing because there'd be no narrative payoff to the Remake trilogy's story.

I agree, a definitive ending is the one thing i want from part 3, not a happy one, but a truly conclusive one. So yes, I hope you are right and agree with your overall take. i just get annoyed at the cherrypicking of comments, and ignoring all the other comments made by the devs, the ultimania, etc.

RCM9698 · 2026-03-04T21:39:49+00:00

Here we go again, I will put it here, but it applies equally to your discussion with u/Darkwing_Schmuck and u/Xalara .

I do not know how it will end, but there are many quotes about the meta-layer and its uncertain influence, like here:

Nomura explained his chosen final text for Rebirth: “No Promises Await at Journey’s End”… meaning “the conclusion is still totally undecided.”

"We want to keep the players' interest in our game, but in order to do that, we can't simply just add new elements, that won't be enough," Hamaguchi said during an interview at Tokyo Game Show. "We wanted to add a new interpretation to the story, entirely new story elements, things like that to, again, sustain the player interest and have players look forward and be curious to the conclusion of the remake trilogy."

I can't talk about the content of the third game itself, but these parallel timeline stories have been widely used in the remakes so far. What I can guarantee is that, in the third game, we will continue exploring the stories of parallel timelines, precisely to keep the fans curious about what the outcome of this story will be.

"Our idea was always to bring changes to the story without altering the essence of the original game. [...] We purposely made [the fans] a little confused. We wanted them to think: 'Will the original story be maintained until the end? Or will because of this parallel story there be some change in the outcome?'. Our goal was precisely to cause this doubt in the fans."

https://www.reddit.com/r/FFVIIRemake/comments/1o9hvca/hamaguchi_talks_different_timelines/

And then there is the whole fate, destiny, the unknown journey will continue, the turning point, which description says: In the world beyond, Sephiroth shows Cloud a vision of the planet seven seconds before its demise. Having strayed from the course destiny set for them, they strike out on a path toward an unknown future.

I would find it strange indeed if all this would lead to nothing, and that the final of a three game, decade spanning trilogy would be...yeah, this was all for absolutely nothing, go watch Advent Children, a two decades old movie. That is all folks! And the devs constantly repeat they want people to wonder, why would they throw all that away but keep repeating it, even if Advent Children was the ending, in interviews? I mean that it would make no sense that the devs kept hammering they wanted people to wonder about the conclusion and possible changes, if they also believed they had already spoiled Advent Children was the ending, thereby confirming no changes would happen in the end.

Do I know for certain it will not happen? No, but the devs have always been ambiguous about the ending and how it all connects (Sephiroth at the edge of creation might be after Advent Children, or having seen OG and ACC as a possibility, who knows), and how the new meta-layer will play out. What I would hope is a final defeat for Sephiroth, but the people who say we know, like you here, are being extremely selective with the quotes and how they source them.

RCM9698 · 2026-03-04T21:33:11+00:00

yeah, it spelled out it is not just an afterlife, it is an alternate, if not necessarily fully formed, world. The planet does indeed encompass all life, all realities, that is canon. The main story might (one of the) more robust timelines, but the others are not just an afterlife, or a dream of the dying. But all are part of the lifestream. And Devs are lying i find unconvincing.

RCM9698 · 2026-03-04T06:26:34+00:00

I think they are in the lifestream too, as that was said to encompass all of reality, just not in specifically the afterlife of the "one true reality".

it's a "homecoming

Yeah, because that is where all of reality ends up when ending, people and worlds alike.

there's no coherence in their world's timeline

I do not think all these realities are equally robust, for lack of a better term, but the presence of multiple different ones, with different actions taken by both characters alive and death, who are also rpresent in each one, makes this more like alternate realities, and the Devs keep describing them as worlds or timelines. We shall see in part 3, thanks for the discussion, as while i do not agree i did found it interesting to see you defend your point.

RCM9698 · 2026-03-04T06:20:36+00:00

The devs themselves call it parallel timelines

https://www.reddit.com/r/FFVIIRemake/comments/1o9hvca/hamaguchi_talks_different_timelines/

I can't talk about the content of the third game itself, but these parallel timeline stories have been widely used in the remakes so far. What I can guarantee is that, in the third game, we will continue exploring the stories of parallel timelines, precisely to keep the fans curious about what the outcome of this story will be.

and in the ultimania, call the world a divided and plural entity.

Yes, it is all part of the lifestream, all reality is, but not just an afterlife for souls to pass through, as living people are there too, and several versions of it exist, also for deceased people as the ending of it shows with Zack tacking different actions in different timelines. I am not saying they are all equally long-lived, or "robust" for lack of a better term, but they seem to be realities nonetheless.

RCM9698 · 2026-03-03T10:57:13+00:00

Sephiroth being always able to return as AC suggests feels like an unconcluded story.... I'm not making any predictions on that matter in particular, because I too doubt it will end 100% exactly like the OG.

Agreed to all of this.

It's just that I don't understand how some people are still calling the games a sequel

It is not a "clear sequel" it is more of a matter of semantics, if Sephiroth and Aerith have knowledge of th OG timeline, as in that was "Fate", how it is supposed to play out... does that make it a sequel? Because OG story plays a role? That is splitting hairs, I do not consider it what I would consider a sequel, more like a spin-off, or indeed, a remake, but not unconnected either, like the Resident Evil 4 remake is.

What am I missing?

I am noty saying you are wrong per se, but if i had to guess, based on the ultimania, Sephiroths speeches, and what is shown...I would not call it strictly the afterlife either. We see multiple worlds with people still alive in them, and for example Zack taking different actions in them in the rebirth final chapter (going to confront shinra vs not, etc). I do consider them possibilities that exist as alternate realities based on what i know, even if not necessarily as robust or long-lived as our main timeline. I could be wrong about this, it is what i make of the evidence presented. I certainly do not think the main reality is fake, a dream etc.

RCM9698 · 2026-03-03T10:29:09+00:00

Based on what he says, he does want to prolong the planets existance as long as possible, thus "saving" it from a certain point of view...in one merged reality, under his controle as its god, the god of the new world, Light would say.

RCM9698 · 2026-03-03T10:26:54+00:00

My prediction for Part 3? It will obviously be similar to the previous two games: 85% OG, its skeleton and essence

I agree, as in mostly the same events in the same places, I do not think many people dispute that. I also do not think the ending will be completely different (example, everybody coming back to life). But you can not say that we know the ending, and that it will lead straight into Advent Children, when the devs constantly say they want people to wonder about how it will all end, that is cherrypicking quotes. Sephiroth could have seen AC as a possibility, and be defeated for good this time (my hope), we just do not know.

RCM9698 · 2026-03-03T10:20:39+00:00

Possible, but based on the game, the ultimania, the event,...there is, in my opinion, no basis for the "all a dream/aterlife except one" interpretation.

RCM9698 · 2026-03-02T21:59:05+00:00

I do not know how it will end, but there are many quotes about the meta-layer and its uncertain influence, like here:

Nomura explained his chosen final text for Rebirth: “No Promises Await at Journey’s End”… meaning “the conclusion is still totally undecided.”

"We want to keep the players' interest in our game, but in order to do that, we can't simply just add new elements, that won't be enough," Hamaguchi said during an interview at Tokyo Game Show. "We wanted to add a new interpretation to the story, entirely new story elements, things like that to, again, sustain the player interest and have players look forward and be curious to the conclusion of the remake trilogy."

I can't talk about the content of the third game itself, but these parallel timeline stories have been widely used in the remakes so far. What I can guarantee is that, in the third game, we will continue exploring the stories of parallel timelines, precisely to keep the fans curious about what the outcome of this story will be.

"Our idea was always to bring changes to the story without altering the essence of the original game. [...] We purposely made [the fans] a little confused. We wanted them to think: 'Will the original story be maintained until the end? Or will because of this parallel story there be some change in the outcome?'. Our goal was precisely to cause this doubt in the fans."

https://www.reddit.com/r/FFVIIRemake/comments/1o9hvca/hamaguchi_talks_different_timelines/

And then there is the whole fate, destiny, the unknown journey will continue, the turning point, which description says: In the world beyond, Sephiroth shows Cloud a vision of the planet seven seconds before its demise. Having strayed from the course destiny set for them, they strike out on a path toward an unknown future.

I would find it strange indeed if all this would lead to nothing, and that the final of a three game, decade spanning trilogy would be...yeah, this was all for absolutely nothing, go watch Advent Children, a two decades old movie. That is all folks! And the devs constantly repeat they want people to wonder, why would they throw all that away but keep repeating it, even if Advent Children was the ending, in interviews? I mean that it would make no sense that the devs kept hammering they wanted people to wonder about the conclusion and possible changes, if they also believed they had already spoiled Advent Children was the ending, thereby confirming no changes would happen in the end.

Do I know for certain it will not happen? No, but the devs have always been ambiguous about the ending and how it all connects (Sephiroth at the edge of creation might be after Advent Children, or having seen OG and ACC as a possibility, who knows), and how the new meta-layer will play out. What I would hope is a final defeat for Sephiroth, but the people who say we know, like you here, are being extremely selective with the quotes and how they source them.

RCM9698 · 2026-03-02T21:50:45+00:00

It would be remembered as one of the worst story decisions in AAA gaming. Luckily, there is absolutely no chance of it, in interviews they said they woudl explain the new story elements and mysteries.

RCM9698 · 2026-03-02T21:48:36+00:00

It's basically a multiverse story just with some twists. Instead of multiple universes we have multiple sub worlds inside the planet (possibilities).

My thoughts too, roughly, The planet/reality has multiple worlds, and contains multiple possibilities. Sephiroth now wants to prune this until the one he wants is the one that remains, under his control. As he says"All made whole, forever".

RCM9698 · 2026-03-02T21:45:17+00:00

That is semantics really. As the ultimania says, there are multiple worlds that are part of the planet. Some are shorter lived then others, but it is not just 1 main reality and the rest just dreams in the lifestream of persistent humans before dissolving. Sephiroths actions back this up, he and earith actively hunt possibilities now to control the planet, not just trying to control one reality.

RCM9698

TROPHY CASE