Part 21: Major Plot Exposition Time
Chapter 21 - Major Plot Exposition Time
This is the moment some of you have been dreading for, some of you have been waiting for, and some of you have no idea about.
To recap: Cloud had said "this is the real crisis of the planet" back at the Shinra HQ and for the first time he seemed invested in it and not doing for money. As such, Cloud promissed everyone he would explain what the fuck once they had the time.
Well, now they do have the time.
There's not much to joke around in this segment, or even to talk about. It's, as the title implies, a major plot exposition, so we can sit back and enjoy the show.
Yeah Barret it's not like you're not a mass-murderer or something!
Aeris: "...one day?"
Cloud: "After the war it was SOLDIER's duty to put down any resistance against the Shinra." Cloud: "...that was 5 years ago. I was 16..."
The guy in black is Sephiroth.
I think this is the first time you get a nice close-up at Sephiroth's five polygons.
We see an overly talkative Cloud walking around and talking.
Which is pretty weird I suppose, but he was 16.
Fanficcers start squealing in 3, 2, 1...
If only you had, you know, leveled them up, we could start the game with Bolt 2.
Cloud: "You going to brief us about this mission?"
Cloud: "Good!"
Sephiroth: "Why do you say that?"
Just so I can help guiding you through the story so far...
He's referring to the Wutai War - a war between Shinra and a whole nation. We've heard about it before twice - it was ongoing when Cloud was a kid and decided to join SOLDIER (as he just pointed out, Sephiroth was a war hero), and it's also the war that resulted in the death of Elmyra's (Aeris' adoptive mother) husband.
Sephiroth is probably going "oh no not fanboys again, Jesus Christ".
Sephiroth: "There have been reports of it malfunctioning, and producing brutal creatures."
I know we've already seen Hojo's laboratory of unpleasant surprises, but this seemed a bit more unsettling. Why would a reactor produce monsters?
Well that's convenient.
Sephiroth: "That would be our Monster..."
So we actually engage in a fight against a motherfucking Dragon.
It's actually quite funny, the Dragon kicks Cloud's ass.
The gimmick of the fight, however, is that we cannot control Sephiroth. Instead, he just does his shit and proceeds to kick the dragon's ass in a fairly one-sided fight since Cloud was the meat shield.
Yeah we kinda get that.
Stop being such a fanboy, Cloud. Aeris was giving you the chance to talk about your prowess.
Creeeeepy.
Wait
What the
Hell
After that he just bursts into laughter. I'm not joking.
Mental note... don't ever talk about parents with Sephiroth again.
In the meanwhile Cloud talks to the two random guards, being nice. He teaches the guard about the SOLDIER pose and how to be cool. Seriously.
How do you imagine Mako smells like? I hope it's nothing like gasoline.
Aeris complains with Barret about him interrupting Cloud, although really, I think he is right on this one. I'd be freaking out.
Recognize that well in the middle of the town?
That's right, that's the well from the Tifa and Cloud flashback.
You can move around the town and talk to people... it's a little eerie, to be honest.
You can also go to Tifa's house, although she's not home.
And creep the hell out of Tifa.
You're not really helping here, Cloud.
I'm imagining a Spider-Man 3esque scene with Cloud going emo and dancing while playing on the piano and it sucks.
You can actually play on the piano using the controller buttons, it's neat.
Whaaaaaaaat hahahahhaha
Best flashback ever.
Casting Christina Hendricks as Tifa for the FF7 Live action movie.
That's the "new materia" they gave to Cloud. I bet they're still laughing about it.
If you notice, Cloud's portrait drawing is different. It's a younger version of him.
It's a pretty neat detail.
Going on Cloud's house is where things get wrong.
He really, REALLY doesn't want to talk about going on in there.
All this is entirely optional of course. You could skip all these interactions by just going to the inn Sephiroth is in.
But that wouldn't be fun.
Ah... the main protagonist syndrome.
This is a really unique moment though - it's a moment in a JRPG where you get to talk to the protagonist's mother. Yes I know, Grandia, SO2, blabla, whatever.
This is a REALLY weird part. The dialogue gets cut all the time with blank screens and white flashes as if Cloud is having a nervous breakdown.
Eventually it all breaks down to Cloud's flashback when he first met Aeris, and Cloud's mom talks about him finding a new girlfriend.
Until eventually Cloud freaks out...
...and his memories start to collapse. It's very disturbing. Fuck that let's go to the inn.
We meet Zangan, Tifa's master. Fairly minor NPC, but it's easy to miss, and it's always good to get some character development and know why the hell Tifa knows how to supplexes
We talk to the attendant and he explains that ever since the reactor was built, monsters started appearing. Nothing we haven't learned. This has been going for the past 12 months.
He also explains that since the reactor was built, all the trees on the mountain withered.
Well our list of mysteries just keep getting bigger and bigger:
1) Who/what the hell is Jenova?
2) Who is Sephiroth's father?
3) How come he knows this place?
Anyway, we just get some sleep. Sephiroth explains he's hired a guide to the Mako reactor.
The creepy implication is that Sephiroth does not sleep.
The guide turns out to be Tifa.
You know, as boring as the flashback sequence is, when I first played around this part I was freaked out, because I was thinking "ok... everything is peachy, Tifa is a guide, Cloud is a SOLDIER, so really what the hell is going to happen that made them end up in Midgar as thugs?"
And by number one she means only one, the town has like 10 people living in it.
But yeah yeah JRPG town jokes blabla. But just imagine the life of a guide in Nibelheim. "So look, there used to be trees here, but since the Mako reactor was built they all withered away. Uh... THIS TOUR IS SPONSORED BY SHINRA LTD, and don't forget, kids! Mako Reactor for a better life."
Memento wasn't in my English-Portuguese dictionary. It frustrated the hell out of me.
The two SOLDIERs and Tifa take a picture together. All the ingredients for a healthy fanfiction.
All things considered, that's one hell of a photo though. It could sell for thousands of bucks on their eBay equivalent years later.
And with their departure we're presented with this CG. I didn't find one on youtube without massive spoilers though.
They weren't kidding about the trees, WHERE ARE THE TREES.
Most depressive touristic attraction ever.
Next Update:
THE FLASHBACK CONTINUES.
Chapter 21 - Bugs & Bytes:
Norse Mythos
Remember how Midgar derives from Midgard, the land of humans in Norse mythologies?
Nibelheim is a bad translation for Nifelheim/Niflheim, which literally means "world of mist", one of the nine worlds from the Norse mythology, representing the world of fog, cold and ice.
Also, Midgard means quite literally Middle-Earth. And we all know how much Tolkien based Lord of the Rings
