Final Fantasy Megathread

[MasterEn]

lots of interesting ideas going around…

Hojo is evil for sure or at least he severely lacks any sense of empathy/ morality … but the arch nemesis?… probably not

It’s an interesting one, and to the people suggesting that Jenova is puppeteering the corpse of a dead Sephiroth … I would ask: to what end? Why would she do that?

In my view, Sephiroth isn’t just able to resist Jenova’s influence, but rather he is the opposite of a puppet. His will is greater than Jenova and she becomes subordinate to his plans. He’s nothing like the other experiments. He the polar opposite of those mindless puppets that aimlessly wander towards the reunion…

Having said that, Jenova is described as a “calamity from the skies” who caused destruction and was feeding off of the planet… Sephiroth seeks to damage and use the planet as a vessel to explore the cosmos…

Sephiroth is certainly the dominant force … it is his sheer will coupled with his supernatural abilities which enable him to regenerate in the northen crater… to me, that’s got to be Sephiroth. Jenova has no reason to regenerate his image. That is Sephiroth.

But is the dominate force always the one in control? What about influence, suggestion, manipulation or soft power? Whose goals does Sephiroth adopt and therefore who is truly calling the shots?

It’s not so clear cut when you think of it that way…



good question… quite possibly it could sense her own cells in cloud and saw an opening to use cloud and his cohort in order to obtain the black materia and bring it to the northern crater… quite possibly using Sephiroth image to motivate and manipulate cloud… there is a strong suggestion however that it is Sephiroth who is in control. And he is asserting his dominance by showing himself / projecting his own image

when sephiroth's mother was still pregnant with him, dr. hojo injected jenova cells into him. as such, the cells would have most likely merged with his own and became a part of him. to my recollection, no other character in the game is exposed to jenova cells in such a way or is given them so early on like that.
i would say that getting the jonova cells so early on more or less allowed sephiroth to become a half-blood. part human, part jenova; allowing him to have her powers at his command and to get that power boost from being a half-blood.
sephiroth never showed any malicious or malevolent intentions until he spent several days in the shinra mansion and started going down the conspiracy road, so to speak. he was told by hojo that his mother's name is jenova, he finds an alien in a cryo tube called jenova, and reads a massive pile of books that speculate on what her goals and intentions were.
the conclusion that he came to seems to have broken his mind and he basically went insane. not fully but his mind is broken.
in this state, he thinks that its his destiny to carry out jenova's will, whatever he thinks that is.

 

[Yuki Senoue]

Another interesting thing is that while Sephiroth makes use of the black materia… the question is, where did the black materia come from? We know that the planet produces materia naturally. And we know that this planet can respond to situations as needed for example, the planet created the 5 weapons probably as a defensive response to Jenova… perhaps the planet also created a black and white materia, accepting its fate that perhaps one day, it will be time to reset! But also, the white materia gives the chance to those who will keep it alive, if they are worthy. And of course Aerith is worthy. She is the antethises to Jenova. And cloud is the antithesis to Sephiroth.

All we know from the original game is that the Black and White Materia exist since, at least, the time when Jenova arrived at the Planet. So, you theory is pretty good, as the duality and cicle of life and death is such an important theme in the game. I like them being artefacts which origins was lost in the sands of time, gives a sense of wonder, of something to which time is meaningless; something which surpasses human knowledge and we maybe will never trully understand.

 

[Cantarella]

Another interesting thing is that while Sephiroth makes use of the black materia… the question is, where did the black materia come from? We know that the planet produces materia naturally. And we know that this planet can respond to situations as needed for example, the planet created the 5 weapons probably as a defensive response to Jenova… perhaps the planet also created a black and white materia, accepting its fate that perhaps one day, it will be time to reset! But also, the white materia gives the chance to those who will keep it alive, if they are worthy. And of course Aerith is worthy. She is the antethises to Jenova. And cloud is the antithesis to Sephiroth.

kinda always assumed it was a jenova thing.


Like, Jenova arrived to the planet on a meteorite. That's what formed the northern crater. Jenova is explicitly hostile towards the planet. And there's a materia that was around at least during the time that Jenova was messing around with the Cetra that ALSO just happens to summon a meteor??? That Jenovaroth even seems very interested in using?? (this brings up the interesting question of whether or not it's actually... a meteorite being summoned.

As to how Jenova would learn how to make materia, idk. But given that it knows what its hosts know (and shows some ability to read minds even without absorbing someone or whatever,) it would be possible if the cetra had that knowledge.


Alternately, materia could just form unconsciously. A quirk of the planet's 'biology.' If lightning strikes it enough, all that accumulated memory of lightning forms lightning materia. meteorite impact forms black materia. raccoon population forms steal materia.

 

[_-_AceDragon_-_]

Consider the following statement:

“The true arch-nemesis in Final Fantasy 7 is Jenova. She corrupts Sephiroth, turning him evil. She influences and uses Sephiroth (or his image) to carry out her will - and nearly brings about apocalypse.”

Please discuss!

Final Fantasy 7 is an epic story and presents a layered battle/struggle:

Nature (lifestream & natural born human) Vs Mankind's corruption (shinra & human experiment)

Ancients Vs Jenova

Earthly power Vs Lovecraftian power

Sanity Vs Psychopathy

Reality Vs Illusion

Healing/protection Vs Destruction/murder

Free will Vs Servitude

Loss of self / identity (literally) Vs Narcissism / egocentrism

At the centre of these struggles are (mostly) Cloud and Sephiroth. Yes, Jenova is the calamity and perhaps source of power, but Sephiroth is the one weilding it. He physically regenerates himself to execute his revenge on the world that once revered him as a hero, all the while he's getting revenge on Cloud. Cloud did kill the actual Sephiroth after all.

Sephiroth is the menace of the game and cause of fear in the characters / audience. Even the music (those chosen) says it all. The grandiose execution of Aerith is one of the most sadistic/shocking things I've ever seen. Let's not forget that moments before, he tries to get cloud to execute her first, which would have been even worse. Yes it was to stop her last prayer/spell but the way it was done and his smile, 100% sadistic Sephiroth. The true menace of the game.

 

[Mopeybloke]

I played the actual PS1 version, which is not the best one to play nowadays, as the PC release and modern system’s release has many quality of life features that do away with the slowness that IX has in its original form (it can sometimes be rather slow).

I have to disagree here. The combat windows updating at 60 FPS, and being made for gamepad instead of touchscreen, as well as the entire interface being suitably low res like the rest of the game make the PSX release the best one to play. With the comprehensive ATB improvement hack [which will hopefully be added to repo], it's the way to play.

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

I have to disagree here. The combat windows updating at 60 FPS, and being made for gamepad instead of touchscreen, as well as the entire interface being suitably low res like the rest of the game make the PSX release the best one to play. With the comprehensive ATB improvement hack [which will hopefully be added to repo], it's the way to play.

I have to play that hack sometime.
FFIX is such a great game, but I think its imperfections have only added to the game over time. People want to “fix” FFIX, which has created a fandom that is very dedicated.

 

[snes9x]

It's been too long since I played this game. I remember it as you were part of a terrorist group, rather a religious cult who is crazy enough to believe planet is alive or something, so to prevent people from "hurting the planet" you were destroying power stations because "they ruin environment" because you love nature lol, because of it your terrorist ideology to protect nature is way important than innocent people's lives because every time you destroy a part of the city they die and then you ironically ruin envoirement further so much the solar system got angry and sent meteor to the world just to defeat you but then you also defeated meteor (what?) but in the end you ended whole humanity's progression just because of your evil religious cult. As a result your whole actions make people live like monkeys as they get back to living in caves. The game is more like "Native American Fantasy 7". Do I remember wrong? lololol

FF7's woke idea due to popular idea of "climate change is dangerous so we gotta save the environment" made the game seem cringe and dull, not to mention the whole game seems "wrong". They could also develop a video game about saving animals because back then it was a huge thing to see monkeys on tv as everyone cared about animal's right and whatnot woke BS lol.

 

[MajesticSiN]

The true villains were the friends we made along the way

 

[Ikagura]

The true antagonist has always been Shinra (represented by both Rufus and his father) because they pumped the Mako out of the lifestream and were responsible for Sephiroth's existence.

Despite Jenova enabling the events of the game by destroying the Cetras it was ultimately human's greed that brought up hell and destruction as she could've always been sealed/destroyed by the planet's Weapons or even powerful human armaments since it was Sephiroth that awakened her for good when Cloud raided the Nibelheim reactor.

No Shinra would've meant no Hojo = no Sephiroth = no Jenova awakening = no Meteor coming.

Spoiler

In the same way that I still think that in Phantasy Star Online's story if Dr. Osto hasn't done his experiments most (if not every) of the events of the game wouldn't have happened.

 

[Cantarella]

the question posed in the op seemed to essentially be regarding who is 'helming' the Jenova/Sephiroth union. IDK how/why multiple people interpreted it as "who did the most bad things or who started the chain of events that led to a bunch of bad things happening."

which, even if that was the question, the answer is still jenova, because if jenova doesn't more or less extinguish the Cetra several thousand years ago, the history of both humans and cetra winds up totally different with there being a good case for humans having a closer tie to the planet!

 

[Ikagura]

the question posed in the op seemed to essentially be regarding who is 'helming' the Jenova/Sephiroth union. IDK how/why multiple people interpreted it as "who did the most bad things or who started the chain of events that led to a bunch of bad things happening."

To be fair it's always the enabler of the events that could be held responsible.

On the other hand it's been clear that Sephiroth was using Jenova right when he discovered her existence as his "mother".

which, even if that was the question, the answer is still jenova, because if jenova doesn't more or less extinguish the Cetra several thousand years ago, the history of both humans and cetra winds up totally different with there being a good case for humans having a closer tie to the planet!

I genuinely think that if the Cetra survived Jenova humanity would've still annihilated them because they're different and humans dislike differences.

Perhaps the real monster in FFVII are humanity itself. The ending of FFVII clearly showed that ultimately they vanished.

 

[symplily]

Shorts answer, hojo

 

[Caped_Plumber]

If you consider humanity as the true villain then characters like Hojo or Shinra are at the top.

I always considered that the main antagonist was Sephiroth until I came across a comment on YouTube suggesting that Jenova was in control. And hence this thread. But yes as someone said, the assumption in the question is that the main antagonist is ether Sephiroth or Jenova.

In response to the comment about humanity vanishing. Look back a little in this thread and someone shared a very interesting video where the creators discuss that there should have been smoke in the final scene to show that humans survived…

As for me, I felt that there is certainly a suggestion that humanity is extinct… cloud and his team won the battle and the war… and after a time, they’re all gone … it’s a bitter sweet ending… humanity goes in a peaceful way. We earned that after saving the planet. It’s in stark contrast to the apocalyptic event of meteor about to hit the planet…

But… If we consider what we actually see: it’s midgar left in ruins and overrun by nature and greenery. That’s it. So we can’t say for sure that humanity is done. The the creators of FF7 suggested that humans survived and are around in the last scene.

What it’s showing for sure is that:
1) midgar, as a city, had failed (for many reasons: social, political, unsustainable).

2) the planet (nature) overcame the threat of shinra and their reactors. Symbolised by the green all over midgar. The planet Overcame the selfish, greedy, self serving and negligent actions of the likes of Hojo and Shinra. Nature overruns midgar.

Humanity doesn’t necessarily vanish. Even though it looks that way and can be interpreted that way. What we see for sure is that midgar failed. And it’s strongly suggested that humanity lives on in connection with nature.

The planet and nature is finally given such the value, respect and reverence it deserves as believed by the wutai elder (and avalanche). And humans live in connection with nature and with a new found respect owing to the planet saving humanity from doom via the white materia and the lessons learnt from abusing the planets natural resources.

The planet wins. Cloud and his team. And avalanche save the planet and humans live in peace.

Post automatically merged: May 24, 2025

* cosmo canyon (not wutai)
And the elder bugenhagen

 

[Michael Frank]

For me it kind of died with XV once they decided to make mediocre action RPGs rather than experiment with turn-based combat. I think all of the talent was siphoned toward the VII remakes as those are actually pretty fun (imo). I really hope XVII goes back to turn-based

The remakes are hack and slash games with rpg elements(bare bones i might add) with barely any substance or artstyle, man it bums me out how devs think that "realistic" is an artstyle and killed all the vibrant colors of VII, also less stuff, no Vincent or Sid party members in disc 2, come on now!, they could have implemented co-op at least seeing how the combat works, but that would mean Square has some resemblance to creativity now, it's sad man.

 

[Strategist Strategist]

Anyone interested in the MTG Final Fantasy set? No way I'm going to spend on paper magic, but I'm considering reinstalling MTG Arena. Gotta grind some for coins to do some drafts once the set releases. I usually play Arena when a set comes out for a few weeks and then take a break for a long time.

 

[Gun Striker]

Which Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection should I download?

There are two different editions of FFIV Complete Collection. One is version is Japanese and the other one is USA. But the Japanese version also has English langauge.

Then what are the differences between these two?
1. Final Fantasy IV: Complete Collection (USA) PSP
2. Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection: Final Fantasy IV & The After Years (Japan) PSP

 

[MasterEn]

There is two different game of FFIV Complete Collection. One is version is Japanese and the other one is USA. But the Japanese version also has English langauge.

Then what are the differences between these two?
1. Final Fantasy IV: Complete Collection (USA) PSP
2. Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection: Final Fantasy IV & The After Years (Japan) PSP

the second one should be the japanese version, since it has japan in the name. meaning everything would be in japanese.
i don't think there would be too much, if any changes between the two.

Post automatically merged: Jun 1, 2025

i found this:

Any diff between JAP and US/EUR version - Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection

For Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection on the PSP, a GameFAQs message board topic titled "Any diff between JAP and US/EUR version".

gamefaqs.gamespot.com

basically, only the selectable languages are different.

 

[TruxtonTatsujin]

they're the same. The Japanese version just happens to have an English language option

 

[MajesticSiN]

download them both and run them at the same time making sure you run two instances of the emulator and see what ends up being different.

 

[Boo Man]

i think "the after years" is like bonus content set after the main story of IV
its like 100mb more and yeah it has English option

 

[UnDubious]

The After Years is a full game that was released on mobile phones in Japan first, then as Wiiware in English. It's not that good and feels like a pretty unecessary sequel to the first game. First there's several chapters of going around doing random stuff in the same world which aren't too bad (but pretty redundant), then you get to the final dungeon and it's longer than the rest of the game. I couldn't believe how long it went on back in the day, it's more like those infinite bonus dungeons I never bother with usually.

 

[iplaygames42069]

i think "the after years" is like bonus content set after the main story of IV
its like 100mb more and yeah it has English option

All of that content is in the US retail release. The title of the game doesn't have "The After Years" in it, but it's all there. The only time I ever played FF4 was on a PSP about 20 years after it came out, and I played After Years, I'm 100% sure.

 

[Gun Striker]

the second one should be the japanese version, since it has japan in the name. meaning everything would be in japanese.
i don't think there would be too much, if any changes between the two.

Post automatically merged: Jun 1, 2025

i found this:

Any diff between JAP and US/EUR version - Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection

For Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection on the PSP, a GameFAQs message board topic titled "Any diff between JAP and US/EUR version".

gamefaqs.gamespot.com

basically, only the selectable languages are different.

they're the same. The Japanese version just happens to have an English language option

Thanks. Then I will just install the USA version.

 

[otogirisou]

download them both and run them at the same time making sure you run two instances of the emulator and see what ends up being different.

wow, very efficient

 

[Tonberry]

Anyone interested in the MTG Final Fantasy set? No way I'm going to spend on paper magic, but I'm considering reinstalling MTG Arena. Gotta grind some for coins to do some drafts once the set releases. I usually play Arena when a set comes out for a few weeks and then take a break for a long time.

My brother plays MTG and managed to snag the FF6 and FF10 packs. He's gonna play with me and show me how it works, but I've played maybe one game of Magic in my entire life lol.