8 Final Fantasy VII Remake Details That Completely Change How You See Midgar’s Story

Final Fantasy VII Remake is one of the more remarkable achievements in the past decade or so, from a graphics standpoint as well as a gameplay standpoint. It set the standard for the action-based JRPG that hasn’t been topped some 6 years later, and it managed to reinvent one of the most important games of all time in a fascinating way.

Mostly because it wasn’t just a Remake, it was a sequel of sorts too. Square Enix threw the kitchen sink at this thing from a story perspective, and what initially was a very small portion of the Final Fantasy VII story became its own game.

We’re going to check out some interesting details in Final Fantasy VII: Remake that changed a lot from the original game.

8

Cloud Sees Sephiroth

A Little Bit Early, Aren’t We?

Sephiroth Final Fantasy VII Remake Cover Art

In the original game, you actually don’t even see Sephiroth until the Costa del Sol cruise ship. Well, that wasn’t in the cards for this remake as Square Enix knew what the main event of Final Fantasy VII has always been. So it was shocking when, in a seemingly quiet moment of the early game, Cloud encounters a vision of Sephiroth in an alleyway.

It completely changed the trajectory of the story because, at this point in time in Midgar, nobody, including Cloud, had a clue that Sephiroth was a current threat to be dealt with. It immediately changes Midgar’s storyline because while Shinra is posited as the big bad from the first steps, it’s clear they are only a bump in the road, as whoever and whatever this Sephiroth is, is something far beyond what any evil corporation can do.

7

Cloud is Guided to the Second Bombing Mission

A Ghostly Intervention

Cloud was never supposed to be on the second bombing mission and was looking like a bit of a one and done with AVALANCHE. That was until the Whispers showed their first signs of real aggressiveness and attacked the Sector 7 plate, which, of course, ended up injuring Jessie’s ankle and forcing the group to take on Cloud one last time.

This is different because in the original game, there are no Whispers to make that happen. Which meant the Whispers were forcing the story to stay consistent with what happened in the original game. They essentially played the role of the fans who were demanding nothing be changed from the original story.

6

Wedge Makes it Through

The Big Man Does Too Much

Wedge dies in the original game during the plate destruction of Sector 7, but in Final Fantasy VII: Remake, he actually makes it through. It seems like a bit of a fluke, but he’s one of the few to survive it, and further yet, he even helps the party get inside Shinra Headquarters for the final stretch of the game. And that would be his biggest mistake.

Because the Whispers are very strict, and that wasn’t part of the script, so what do they do? They swarm him and launch him out a window, of course. It’s one of the more direct scenes in the game that tells you “do not interfere with the Whisper’s script.” But the fun part of it all is that the characters don’t know the script, only the original game players do. Which left new players thinking “what the hell is happening?” and everyone understood that sentiment fully. It added a third power to the Midgar story that seemed to have no equal.

5

Hojo No No

Not So Fast Mr Scientist

Hojo reveals himself as the big bad of Shinra towards the end of the game, and he likes to talk a lot. Unfortunately for him, he talks a little bit too much for the liking of the Whispers, who have very specific plans, and Hojo almost said that would put those plans into jeopardy. See, Hojo knows all about Cloud and is about to expose the secret that Cloud isn’t actually the SOLDIER First Class he claims to be.

The Whispers realize this is far too early for Cloud to learn the truth and decide to intervene. Now, does anything actually change if Cloud finds out he isn’t some badass military hero this early and was just a grunt foot soldier? Not really in my opinion, but hey, I’m not the Whispers, and it’s clear that they need everything to remain as it happened for some reason. Two games in and…we still don’t know that reason, but it significantly alters the story here as Hojo was about to drop the bomb before they stepped in.

4

Aerith’s Fate is Revealed

Cloud’s Vision of the Future

Aerith’s fate is a well known tale in the gaming world at this point and even players jumping into the game for the first time probably knew as much. However, there was no knowledge of this whatsoever by Cloud or anyone else. That is especially true during the Midgar segment, which is rather small in its story scope. We don’t know anything about the White Materia, praying for Holy or even who Sephiroth is.

That changes big time in Final Fantasy VII: Remake. Because Cloud actually gets a vision of his would be love interest praying and the White Materia falling during the final segment against the Whispers. Why? Again. Two games in. No idea. But still, it changes a lot because Cloud now knows that moment is going to happen and is existing knowing that moment can’t be stopped. Or can it? I suppose that is the possibility that Final Fantasy VII: Remake wanted you to wrestle with.

3

Sephiroth’s Blood Trail

A Different Color, a Different Story

The infamous scene in the end segment of Final Fantasy VII: Remake has the party charging up Shinra tower to confront President Shinra, but when they get to the top, they are greeted by a grisly sight. A hallway soaked in blood. In the original game, that blood was red, implying a massacre of some kind, but in the remake, it’s purple.

You might think that’s to get away with a lesser maturity rating, but really, it’s telling a different story. It’s exposing the twist that this isn’t Sephiroth at all here, but rather Jenova. The purple blood is a dead giveaway here as it’s the same blood that Jenova would shed in the battles in Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, and this is just a hint at what is really happening here.

2

Barrett Meets the Pointy End

A Surprising Death

Barrett gets a surprisingly gruesome story moment shortly after the party finds the body of President Shinra in Final Fantasy VII: Remake. While everyone playing was expecting to eventually see the iconic Aerith’s death at some point in the series, they were certainly not expecting another character to be killed off by Sephiroth.

And that’s exactly how the Whispers felt as well, as they quickly course-correct the story so Barrett survives this brutal attack and while there were other moments in the story that showed the influence and power of the Whispers, no other moment proves it more than this one. They bring a man back from the brink of death and show the most powerful character in the story who is really in charge here. It’s a jarring moment and sets up the subsequent epic battle against the Whispers on the highway.

1

Zack is Alive

The Man Who Died

The biggest “Aha” moment of Final Fantasy VII: Remake happens at the very end of the game, where we see the shocking revelation that Zack is in fact alive. Now, most people playing the game for the first time likely have very little idea of who he is unless you played Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core: Reunion, but for the vets of the series, you know it’s a game changer.

That’s because Zack is who Cloud thinks he is, a real SOLDIER First Class member. That ups the ante of the story of Midgar in a huge way, because it means that Zack is out there somewhere during all of this chaos. While we’d go on to see what really was happening in the sequel, this moment set up a possible buddy cop scenario for the ages and was the talk of the gaming world when it first hit.