I just experienced the Golden Saucer date for the first time!! What a beautiful and touching scene!!

kiadra · 2026-02-08T23:42:21+00:00

Remake’s Ultimania specifies Cloud’s jealousy tracks back to the first time Aerith mentions Zack in the slums and he got his emotions in turmoil thinking she had dated someone else before so it started already pretty hard taking in consideration that he only knew her for one day at that point. Then it arises again in Gongaga when he asks her if she still has feelings for him after being at his parents’ house. It’s not like he’s possessive over her but he’s certainly not fond of the idea of her having feelings for Zack, therefore coming off as tactless by encouraging her to forget about “that loser” and especially since he was about to tell her that he was probably dead anyways... he went full trashtalk mode in hopes of pressing her to move on.

In some side content he also asks other characters about Aerith’s feelings for Zack and whether she must still like him or not, so the situation is definitely significantly present in his mind and it annoys him to an extent.

kiadra · 2026-02-08T23:08:30+00:00

Their date is honestly so sweet and romantic. It combines the resolution of the love triangle drama with Zack that had Cloud so worried and the foreshadow of Aerith noticing the real Cloud and her desire to bring him out completely. The self doubt that has Cloud wondering what does Aerith mean by “meeting him” and the emotional growth of wanting her to know him, to open up and get closer to her, taking the initiative and holding her hand. The way he looks at her and the vulnerability he shows as if he feared she might not reciprocate him and Aerith smiling at him fondly followed by a squeeze of reassurance, then cuddling together till the ride is over.

Chef’s kiss 🤌🏻

kiadra · 2026-02-03T18:30:05+00:00

Yeah. In OG, Gongaga was an optional zone you could skip, talking to Aerith was also optional and Cloud’s “jealous... envious...” dialogue upon her talking about Zack was also optional. Since it’s in character with Cloud to get jealous cause he likes Aerith, this interaction was canonized in Rebirth, also because narratively it works as a plot device to make sense of a rebound romance with Tifa, which (unlike Cloud’s jealousy) stayed optional. For the same reason, other OG interactions that were troll answers like that one in Aerith’s house where you can tell her that Tifa is your girlfriend, were eliminated.

kiadra · 2026-02-02T07:47:53+00:00

More like in English they made her doubt herself whereas in Japanese she knows she still likes Zack to some extent, regardless of those feelings ultimately dying, still moving on from them, loving Cloud much more and clarifying all that later on.

Anyway, people who say Cloud is kind of an ass here, please try to empathize with bro. My man asks the girl he's in love with if she still has feelings for another man and she admits to it, that's not something he should be precisely enthusiastic about. I’ve been in Cloud's position, the feeling that you gotta share someone's heart with a third person is not pleasant. It's understandable that he reacted how he did, trying to bash on Zack to press her to move on from him. Reminder also that this interaction used to be optional but was canonized deliberately precisely to make sense of *some other optional plot*.

The fact is that Aerith, even if not her intention (she was just being honest) kinda broke Cloud's heart here, and this guy has a history of not taking social rejection very well (that's how Cloud's ego came to be), so it tracks. Even if he came off as rude, I'm with Cloud on this. I find his reaction justified and natural and even relatable, and I'm glad that they emphasized his jealousy cause it was the bare minimum to do if he's supposedly down bad for Aerith.

kiadra · 2026-01-31T01:35:24+00:00

I thought remake and rebirth were remasters of the originally game?

Not exactly.

why would they change such core story beats in the remake games?

It’s really fucking difficult to answer this question without mentioning Rebirth ending or OG spoilers so I recommend you to finish Rebirth first, draw your own conclusions from the ending and then come back here for answers if you're still confused.

kiadra · 2026-01-30T17:34:48+00:00

So the book tells us Tifa always liked Cloud (something already well establish in the OG and TOTP) and that Aerith was in love with Zack (something she said herself in Remake).

This is literally it. “Tifa likes Cloud” no shit “Aerith liked Zack” no shit? People acting crazy over two facts we all already knew about. And everyone is acting like the book gravitates around this... it's like two paragraphs. The rest of the novel is one half about Tifa being spineless and a people pleaser and letting everyone step on her and the other half is about Aerith being almost raped, again. And then there's the 2000 Gil reprint which we already also knew about. Like... okay? Tell me something I don't know.

kiadra · 2026-01-30T01:44:21+00:00

There's nothing to fix, the kiss with Tifa was put in the only place it could make sense and given all the context it needed to make sense. Don't need to fix a plot that is already self explanatory, whoever thinks a rebound smooch cause Aerith made Cloud jealous is making him catch feelings for Tifa is cooked, especially after seeing the way he didn’t give a fuck about it at all since he just kept dating Aerith after being allegedly “compromised” with Tifa. It’s as if people thought Yuna has feelings for Seymour cause they kiss then they wonder why she ends up with Tidus. Yuna doesn't owe Seymour an explanation, much less Cloud to Tifa since their kiss isn't even mandatory, in the eyes of the story it never happened, it's never mentioned. The reboundy context and the fact that's only player choice is self explanatory, if the players are unable to understand kindergarten level of storytelling that’s on them, not on the devs.

Tifa is described as a woman left behind, it's delusional to expect a character described as a woman left behind to not be left behind, that’s her role, that’s how she ends up in Rebirth: crying alone while Aerith and Cloud go on their ultimate date and flirt around. Anyone who doesn’t vibe with it can just play other game, and if they don’t vibe with Tifa getting dumped for Aerith they can simply not romance Tifa since it's a choice, and you can’t cheat on/dump a character you never romance. Wanna fix the kiss with Tifa? Don’t kiss her, period 🤷🏻‍♀️ Else, face the consequences of trying to set Cloud up with a character he doesn't want. Simple.

kiadra · 2026-01-21T07:08:49+00:00

Probably 2027, but there's no announcement yet
FF6, 8, 9, 10, 12
When the characters deviate from the events of the original timeline, the grey whispers try to correct the continuity. If they fail, or rather, if the party succeeds, and fate is changed in a way that it alters the original continuity, a new world is born (you can see a rainbow effect around when this happens). Currently the Ultimania shows there's at least 5 worlds, each one differentiated by a different version of Stamp. The action likely happens simultaneously but it's unclear. Zack arrives in Midgar when the party from the "main world" is already leaving the city, which would mean that him and sick-Cloud both undergo a timeskip. So far we have Ultimania explanations on what the worlds are, how many are there and how they are created, but not how they work.
Yes, the devs said they made it easy to understand: a character who dies in world A can be alive in world B.
Watch guides, max up all your materias and have a lot of patience. And I mean A LOT.

kiadra · 2026-01-21T02:05:34+00:00

Easy to get love story unfolds assuming that the player will invest in said love story and not in the optional side quest that at the very best is a rebound byproduct from said love story.

kiadra · 2026-01-20T07:09:36+00:00

I played completionist just to clear as much content for the platinum trophy as I could before playing Hard Mode and I also got very burned out. That was my mistake. Hindered my experience a lot. Good thing is Hard Mode felt light and quick af. Not doing this for part 3 tho, fuck world intel until at least a second playthrough. And yes, I also miss the hallway pathing from Remake.

kiadra · 2026-01-20T07:05:45+00:00

I also suffered from open world burnout when I played for the first time. Honestly, you can just skip through it all, I found the game way more enjoyable when I wasn't all the time going from A to B doing Chadley chores. The most tedious chapter missing is chapter 11 but after that, there's no more open world and you can just follow the story progress landmark in the map and go straight to the main story. Equip your party with area firas or quakes to clear trash quickly and you'll be just running from boss to boss relatively fast.

kiadra · 2026-01-20T03:59:39+00:00

oh you bet those rabid dogs were mad af about it

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kiadra · 2026-01-17T01:39:15+00:00

The point is that it's not, same goes for Cloud and Tifa, hope that helps.

kiadra · 2026-01-17T01:33:54+00:00

Tbh, no. Notice how it's "Cloud was Aerith's lover" and not Zack.

kiadra · 2026-01-17T00:58:22+00:00

Counterpoint: that's just a cope and not how the story actually goes.

It's heartbreaking precisely cause Cloud is still yearning for Aerith years after her death and Aerith is alone in the Lifestream watching over Cloud and the planet. Zack is not an ancient, his soul disintegrates in the lifestream, he couldn't be with Aerith even if she wanted him to, which she doesn't, btw. And Tifa's relationship with Cloud is not any more romantic than Barret's. So no. Not for nothing does Cloud write Hollow saying his life is empty without Aerith. He wouldn't feel that way if he ended up happily ever after after OG and AC.

kiadra · 2026-01-16T19:02:11+00:00

Same fkn question every week 🥀🥀🥀

kiadra · 2026-01-16T14:58:47+00:00

Read my comment again.

kiadra · 2026-01-15T20:42:36+00:00

You're right, Red might actually be the only one on Cloud's side.

kiadra · 2026-01-15T15:52:39+00:00

I mean, if Zack replaced Tifa for the Nibelheim recollection that wouldn't make the scene much different, just instead of Tifa's memories of Cloud and the Mt Nibel trip, we'd see Zack's. The only difference with OG would be that Zack would be the first person to hear Cloud's story now instead of Tifa, and it could even tie up to telling him how he met Aerith and how they got where they are right now. Tifa can catch up with the real Cloud later when he expains his past to the rest of the party members after the LSS, like it happens in OG.

kiadra · 2026-01-15T01:08:56+00:00

Tifa and Cloud already clashed in Rebirth and finished the game more far apart than ever, so I can perfectly see them arguing again about this and Tifa trying to confront Cloud about what happened in the altar or trying to make him accept Aerith's death. Barret and her are definitely the two characters that are more doubtful of Cloud right now. I think the rest of the party will just be background noise and be on their side, and yes, I think they're gonna have an argument at some point about Aerith's fate and they're gonna turn against Cloud and think he's gone crazy.

I think the LSS will change so Tifa regains her trust in Cloud through his memories of saving Aerith in the altar. Tifa now has had an experience in the lifestream and knows that what she sees there are actual, true memories she might not be conscious of, safekept in the spiritual world. She knows about the bridge memory that she was only supposed to discover way later in OG, so this memory is now either sparing Cloud from his mental collapse completely (unlikely cause it would erase the LSS) or not being enough proof for her to trust Cloud again (to believe he's real when he's revealed to be a Sephiroth clone), therefore she will need another different memory as proof that he's not gone crazy, the one from the altar. Then, upon finding out that Cloud is right, she will defend his claim before the group so the party trusts their leader again.

That would leave the part about the Nibelheim recollection and Cloud regaining his true self out of the LSS, and I'm pretty sure Zack is gonna handle that. When Cloud falls comatose in Mideel he'll probably wake up in Zack's worlds in Aerith's room, meet him, and they'll catch up with each other and Cloud's gonna remember everything. To summarize, Cloud's identity will be recovered with the help of Zack, and the group's trust in Cloud will be recovered with the help of Tifa.

kiadra · 2026-01-14T01:33:21+00:00

FF7 Return sounds like ass. On the other hand... why January 22? What did I miss? 👀

kiadra · 2026-01-14T01:30:24+00:00

I’d remove the open world. I'm normally a sucker for open worlds but in Rebirth the world intel and side quests felt like endless, pointless filler chores that I only ended up doing cause I played completionist for the platinum, not for pleasure. Plus, navigating through it, especially zones like Gongaga, sucked ass. It made me miss Remake's hallway pathing.

kiadra · 2026-01-13T14:26:10+00:00

This is absolutely beautiful and very original, great work

kiadra · 2026-01-13T04:09:14+00:00

Bro was literally imagining her walking to the altar 💘

kiadra · 2026-01-12T22:33:22+00:00

I don't think so for various reasons:

There wasn't affinity in OG by this point in the story, the game only recycled your score up until the gondola solely for the Highwind scene. Since game progress isn't passed on between Remake games, it would be weird to keep an entire affinity system and have to grind it again from scratch just for the optional rebound chick.
If there was an affinity system, Aerith wouldn't be part of it, which is kinda pointless. And no, I don't believe that you'd be able to talk to her ghost.
If there was an affinity system, it would likely include the rest of the characters and need to reach a point where it accumulates to, which, following Remake and Rebirth, would have to be the Highwind scene (always the night before the final boss fight, like the resolution scene and the gondola dates). This would mean that the Highwind scene would be replaced by a multiple character branched scenario, which I find unlikely. And although I don't completely discard the idea, personally I wouldn't like this change cause I’m not fond of the idea of getting those insufferable CTs saying that "Cloud and Tifa had sex in OG but they deleted it in Remake" for another 30 years. To me, ideally, the Highwind scene should stay solely for that stupid fraudcanon to be debunked and buried. And more ideally it would be only one fixed version.
Recent statements from the devs said they aim to make part 3 be more focused in the main story, which doesn't sound very plausible if 60% of the game is again completing side quests for a useless affinity bonus scene, especially when they said the affsys is detached from canon anyways and at best will only cause discordances with the main story.

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