Part 3 and the Highwind Scene...s(?)

[X-SOLDIER]

Despite what the title might bring to mind first, I'm actually not all that interested in the branching paths between Cloud & Tifa's night together here, but rather in the possibility of following the other characters' departures.

With all of the emphasis that Remake & especially Rebirth placed on the characters' relationships to one another, I think that it would be really interesting if we followed dropping them off all around the world a bit more closely, and actually got to see/play a little bit of their experiences in where they decide to return to when they have to evaluate if they're ok to have their own reasons to rejoin and try to take down Sephiroth.

Having a chance to see things like Barret going to visit Marlene in Midgar, Nanaki going home to everyone in Cosmo Canyon, Yuffie going home to Wutai, etc. hold a lot of value in raising the stakes of what they have to know they might never see again, and it could be delivered in a similar way to how we got all of the individual vignettes in the Temple of the Ancients in Rebirth, where it flows from one into the next as everyone's being dropped off, and where the resolution won't necessarily indicate whether or not they're going to come back together with the party.

Most of all, I think that it could help a lot to emphasize that both Tifa & Cloud really don't have anywhere else to go, or anyone else to see other than each other in a way that helps to more meaningfully emphasize that moment, while still holding onto the reveal of when the others quietly made their way back to see Cloud & Tifa doing whatever they're doing.

At any rate, I figured that it'd be interesting to see if having some more content with all the individual characters like that would be something that other folk around here would appreciate, or if you think it somehow might detract from the moment rather than emphasize it.



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[Eerie]

It's one of my biggest wish, to see what the others are doing... let's remember that Cloud and Tifa wait for a full week so it'd be great if we could see what everyone's answer is. I also want to see Cloud and Tifa travelling to key places to them during that time...

 

[Theozilla]

It's one of my biggest wish, to see what the others are doing... let's remember that Cloud and Tifa wait for a full week so it'd be great if we could see what everyone's answer is. I also want to see Cloud and Tifa travelling to key places to them during that time...

They wait a whole week? Where/when is that indicated?

 

[Eerie]

I think it's what Cloud says, so they have the time to go and come back?

 

[ForceStealer]

they definitely have a week left when they take their trips home. It's probably arguable how much time they actually spent. Could easily go either way with it, though.

I would be happy to see the other characters' visits, although maybe not within that scene. Could mess with the flow, but maybe as flashbacks after?

 

[X-SOLDIER]

On the timeline, it's helpful to refer to that bit of the script.

Cloud: "We'll beat Sephiroth... Then, if we don't release the power of Holy in seven days...... There won't be a planet left to protect."

Essentially that frames everything with Holy & Meteor being a week away. With the events immediately post-North Crater confrontation with Sephiroth having Meteor falling into Midgar and Holy attempting to intervene at the last possible second before the Lifestream has to come in, that basically confirms that it's a week between that and the end of the game. How much of that exactly is spent with everyone going back to their respective homes / loved ones isn't certain, but I think it's fairly reasonable to assume it's roughly in the timeframe of about a week before Cloud & Tifa decide to take & pilot the Highwind together where everyone else surprises them.



Personally I think it'd be interesting to follow everyone whatever journey that they take one at a time and continue with them up to the point where they reach some emotional crux that makes them uncertain whether or not they're going to stay or go, because the whole purpose is that they have to truly KNOW that the reason that they're fighting is right. Especially with the juxtaposition of how Barret starts out initially fighting out of anger against Shinra but now he's more motivated to save Marlene, and those are the sorts of personal questions that everyone has to resolve, and I think that those questions that they face are important to feeling like all the characters really get to have their own complete journeys.

When it hits at the core of that question for them and the moment where that choice is most difficult, then shift over to the next person. That'd let all of those thing have the space to be their own personal exploration, and go one-at-a-time up to the point that it leaves us with Cloud & Tifa as the last of those. That preserves the original's presentation with the two of them, gives places to expand it, and also allows for holding the reveal of whether or not anyone comes back until Cloud & Tifa get those answers from them directly.

It's one of those moments where the bonds that everyone forms together throughout their travels REALLY has to weigh in and hold fast, and I think that it's worth really spending time with everyone on their own terms given how much the Remake Project has devoted to giving us extra moments of everyone traveling together, and letting us spend time with each of the characters differently from the original.

Especially since sections of Part 3 are already going to be focused on needing to spend time with Tifa or Cid running the show, I think that not doing that may actually end up feeling a little bit odd, since I expect that there will be a lot of very character-centric segments of the story that don't always have Cloud as our primary lens, which does make that being its own game have a bit more room for shifting perspecitve a bit differently to the others even than Remake & Rebirth did, which is something I hadn't thought about much until this all popped into my head the other day.




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[Lex]

Or we assume it takes them several days to descend inside the crater. I think I like the idea of them all going away and returning on the eve of the final day though, thematically. Just seems a bit irresponsible to leave it to the 11th hour

 

[Ryushikaze]

I definitely think we should track everyone visiting their families, loved ones, etc. as they all ask themselves what they're fighting for, if they even have a chance, etc. Intercut that with Cloud and Tifa revisiting Midgar, since Nibelheim isn't home any more, to wrap up their loose ends before they have the iconic moment under the Highwind.

I'd also suggest making it clear that Meteor speeds up in response to Sephiroth feeling like he's about to lose, specifically so it doesn't feel like the party waited until the 11th hour to start the assault.