I think one of the most important things the Final Fantasy VII remakes have done is make Cloud likeable instead of completely insufferable

Finally rolling credits on Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade, going straight into my "Finished in 2025" list https://questlog.app/u/ivozzo/playlists/finished-in-2025--xyhteirh

Somewhat longer than the games I'm used to, as a long FF 7 fan I quite enjoyed this new take on the series.

I'll wait a bit before venturing into Rebirth though, as this chapter has been a drag sometimes and I don't want to burnout l.

I've played it mostly on the Deck.

It took a few hours but I finished Intermission! Now that I reread the requirements for getting the Leviathan and Ramuh summons in Rebirth, though, it seems like I just needed save files from both parts of Remake and I didn't have to actually beat anything... Whoops!

...Buuuut, even though I installed it remotely while I was at work, I accidentally installed it on my Steam Deck instead of my PC. So now I have to wait for it to download again... I won't be able to play it until morning

I guess that's okay because it gives me time to finish the Intermission DLC for FFVII Remake. I thought I was going to have to miss the Ramuh summon in Rebirth because I hadn't beaten it and that was kind of a bummer. So this snafu is a blessing in disguise, I guess

Playing as a teen: Sephiroth is fucked
Playing as twenty-something: Shinra is fucked
Playing as a thirty-something: Avalanche is fucked
Playing at any age: Cloud is fucked

The fact that in Remake, it's explicit thar Cloud was paid like, ten cans of vending machine Coke equivalent for bombing a reactor, is the most onbrand thing about both Cloud and Avalanche.

I switched the game back to English voice because lots of the minor banters weren't in subtitles. I lasted three sentences.

The American accent is so thick in here, it's practically impenetrable. It's not like in The Wire where the local accent is critical to the narratives either. It's just, this unbelievably jarring cast of fictional Slum-Japanese who all spoke the most posh, most "we all went to the same broadcaster private school" kind of American accent.

I honestly would've preferred it if both Tifa and Cloud sound like they have a bit more Ozarks tone in localisation, considering the context. In a way I found this is less of an issue with UK directed voice acting, seems like people have an understanding that if their cast will take up BBCspeak it's usually done for a reason.

I still hold that Vanille in FFXIII has the most well thought out approach to voice acting ever in English language history.

So in the originals, I just cannot get over how Cloud really isn't going to functionally have a career in anything. I think he'd make a good Fringe Festival performance artist whose entire act is just having his back to the audience while drinking a casket of wine, but I also think he's not organised enough to turn up to the correct theatre at the right time.

What I can say though, is he definitely hasn't figured out the contrast and payment aspect of being a merc. Take a deposit you silly boy.

Final There's A Random Dude Crawling On The Train Station Floor To Pet A Cat Fantasy VII Remake

Serious talk. I feel self conscious when I say I see too much of myself in Cloud Strife, specifically because I don't believe neither him nor me would've lived past 25. And I'm definitely older than 25 by like a decade.

I'm not sure how I feel about this

Whoever came up with the idea that the most suitable rest areas for Cloud would be the benches next to vending machines. If you ever need bone marrow transplant you can have mine.

When you are a Cloud but you'd rather be a Wedge.

Yes. That scene of Cloud having his sword stuck in the door frame. Remake gets it.

HAHAHAHAH I CANNOT BELIEVE I FORGOT THAT CLOUD WAS PAID 500 GIL FOR THE BOMBING

Actually, whatever happened to Cloud post age of 24? I never really can be bothered to play Dirge of Cerberus, I kind of just assumed he died of alcoholism by the age of 27.

Never liked Tifa in the original, now I'm older and it's amazing how much of what I thought were weird vibes are so so more obvious. It's the whole being manipulative and being bad at it, only really Cloud would fail to recognise it. It's the every comment is some variety of "Cloud you are so worthless and only I can tolerate you", or somehow she'd be the only person who spoke with the landlady about Cloud and the landlady immediately decided Cloud was The Enemy.

Really, good idea to leave that town. Sounds like it's just the cultural normal of Nibelheim based on the memory segments.

The English voice acting are not bad, but I have to change it. Sorry. It's like trying to watch The Wire dubbed in Mandarin, it just doesn't work for me. Mad respect to people who don't get spooked by this.