FF7 Crisis Core (major spoilers)

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#10
  1. Cloud was NOT a complete basket case when he reunites with Tifa. He’s still acting funny and confused, but he was acting the same way when he was with Zack. Here’s the script from that scene for reference:

Tifa sees Cloud at the Train Station.

Guard: What’s the matter?

Cloud: Ohhh…

Guard: …poor kid.

Cloud: Ooouugh…

Tifa: Are you all right?

Cloud: Oo… uh… agh Uh… uh… Tifa…?

Tifa: …? Tifa! …? Oh, Cloud!

Cloud: That’s right. I’m Cloud.

Tifa: Is it really you, Cloud? I never thought I’d find you here!

Cloud: Yeah, it’s been a while.

Tifa: What happened to you? You don’t look well.

Cloud: …Yeah? It’s nothing. I’m okay.

Tifa: How long has it been?

Cloud: (after some shocks) Five years.

Tifa: …

Cloud: What is it?

Tifa: …it’s really been a long time. Actually, it’s been seven years. You got
your wish and joined SOLDIER, quit after the Sephiroth incident, and now you’re
a mercenary… You told me a lot about what happened after you left
Nibelheim… But… Something’s wrong. I felt there was something strange about
the things you talked about. All the things you didn’t know that you should.
And other things you shouldn’t know that you did… I wanted to make sure…
But then I heard… you were going far away… And I didn’t want that… …I
didn’t know what to do. So, I thought I need more time. And that’s why I told
you about the AVALANCHE job. I wanted to be with you, watch you.

My point being that he’s also lucid enough to recognize Tifa and have a conversation with her.

  1. The Ultimania. But for some reason, you don’t accept official information.

  2. The statue and the giant materia were a part of Genesis’s own personal reproduction of LOVELESS. The giant materia was also a goddess materia, which granted Genesis its power.

#11

  1. He only recovers after Tifa begins talking to him. My understanding is that that’s the point that all his memories converge on his fake identity. Before that he’s a basket case.

  2. I accept official information. I don’t accept that Ultimania is official. It isn’t written by the same people who wrote the books. Just because it’s related to Square Enix (somewhat vaguely, nowadays) doesn’t help. I’ve seen a few too many contradictions to trust it exclusively.

  3. How does that correspond with the “actual” goddess, Minerva? And why would he have to go there to do whatever it is he’s doing, communing with the Lifestream or whatever?

#12

  1. Just because Cloud’s moaning all weird-like doesn’t necessarily mean he’s more crazy than he was before.

  2. The fact is that Square is never going to answer every question concerning a game’s plot. For example, the FF8 Ultimania states that the Rinoa = Ultimecia theory is false. Square didn’t put that in the game because they just didn’t expect people to think that. And how is the Ultimania NOT related to Square? It seems to me that their information could only be known if it was straight from the developers. After all, they have complex formulas concerning even gameplay that no normal person would be able to figure out. By the way, what contradictory info have you seen?

  3. I can tell you that Genesis discovered the Banora underground when he was a little boy, and used it as his personal playground. The only other answers I can give you would be from the Ultimania.

EDIT: Oh, and the reason you can tell Shinra was using the underground…Did you read the blood writing on the walls of some of the cells? The cellmates talk about how they were kidnapped/captured and experimented on, etc…

#13
  1. Agreed… I don’t have proof that that’s the case, just my feeling from watching the scene. You can’t argue that Crisis Core has certainly changed some of the scenes from FF7 (Zack’s death was very different) so it isn’t unreasonable to say that that one may also have changed; it just doesn’t fall under the CC purview.
  1. Certainly they won’t, but it’s rare that I can’t figure out practically everything from the game itself. I get suspicious when they start adding in backstory that’s completely nonevident from the game.

It seems to me that their information could only be known if it was straight from the developers.

Or some guy was commissioned to come up with some more backstory to flesh things out even though they were never meant to be in the game. The FFC limits itself to what’s evident in the game specifically to avoid that sort of thing. For example, the Ultimania comes up with whole swathes of events that happen between FF7 and AC which aren’t mentioned or referenced anywhere. Another problem with the Ultimania is that since it’s never been released in English, there’s yet another block between me and the “official” information since it’s an unofficial fan translation, which we try to avoid. Hence the lack of info on FFU: After.

I don’t recall all the individual contradictions I saw, but I do remember one of them was the timeline they provided linking FF12 and FF Tactics which contradicted a Clan Primer entry in FF12.

  1. Thanks for the tips.
#14

The ‘swathes of events’ that occur between FF7 and AC were all from On the Way to a Smile, I’m assuming. Which were translated to English, and also released with certain editions of AC. So I’m pretty sure they’re considered canon.

#15

Tifa: …it’s really been a long time. Actually, it’s been seven years. You got
your wish and joined SOLDIER, quit after the Sephiroth incident, and now you’re
a mercenary… You told me a lot about what happened after you left
Nibelheim… But… Something’s wrong. I felt there was something strange about
the things you talked about. All the things you didn’t know that you should.
And other things you shouldn’t know that you did… I wanted to make sure…
But then I heard… you were going far away… And I didn’t want that… …I
didn’t know what to do. So, I thought I need more time. And that’s why I told
you about the AVALANCHE job. I wanted to be with you, watch you.

Wait. What? She meets a dazed Cloud in a train yard after seven years and she just BLURTS ALL THAT OUT? WORST exposition I’ve seen in a while!
::dekar!::

#16

She doesn’t blurt all that out. She’s thinking about it in her head. She recalls the memory in a dream sequence.

#17

The ‘swathes of events’ that occur between FF7 and AC were all from On the Way to a Smile, I’m assuming. Which were translated to English, and also released with certain editions of AC.

Eh what? What versions of AC? It’s definitely not on my version. O_o

#18

Well, you should have made that clear. (It still sounds quite unwieldy.)

#19

Sorry…I just copy-pasted it from a game script.

And On the Way to a Smile was released with the limited edition box set of AC (which, incidentally, I don’t have). It was also released with most Japanese versions and also in V-Jump, although neither of those are American.

#20

What was it? An actual book? A booklet? A DVD extra?

#21

A novella…It’s mentioned on your site.

#22

I wasn’t the one who put that in there. -_- And I’ve never actually seen it.
Maybe I need to look into ordering this…

#23

It basically tells Denzel’s life story, to clear up any confusion on him, and also about what happened to Tifa and Barret in between FF7 and AC.

However, there is one thing I’m unclear about. I’m unsure if the entire novella was released with AC, or if it was just the Case of Barret. I know that the Case of Barret was made exclusively for us US people. In any case, I doubt you could find it without actually purchasing the limited edition box set, and who knows if that’s even still available.

#24

I guess I could probably find it on eBay or something, but I’ve never bought anything on eBay and I’m leery of starting…

#25

eBay is safe most of the time. Just make sure you contact the seller before buying it to ensure it’s what you’re looking for.

#26

Yeah… maybe, but it’s my shtick. I’m still staying away for now.

#27

. Cloud was NOT a complete basket case when he reunites with Tifa. He’s still acting funny and confused, but he was acting the same way when he was with Zack. Here’s the script from that scene for reference

He still thinks he was actually in SOLDIER, right? Cloud’s self-delusion is one of the major plot points of FF7, and the end of Crisis Core basically contradicts that.

Besides, Zack’s death in FF7 still stylistically underlines Cloud’s weakness at the start of FF7. The retcon in Crisis Core doesn’t do this, even if you can make an argument that technically it can fit into the storyline.

#28

Now you all know why I don’t give a damn about all of these spin-offs. They keep on retconning the original game (and possibly each other too. I wouldn’t know though since I haven’t played any of them (though I did watch the first cut of AC)).

It’s getting to the point where they’re going to have to remake FFVII at this rate.

#29

Actually, this was the only significant retcon I can think of so far, if you discount Last Order (and you should).