So I’ve been watching a playthrough of FFVII, the PS1 version, where it’s all the dialogue and cutscenes, but most battles and traversal are cut. I wanted to refresh my memory of how the middle of the game went, story-wise. Only played through it once at launch, so I forgot a good bit of it…and I don’t have the time to playthrough it again. I remember bits and pieces. Got to the part with Cid and his backstory… Holy shit, was Cid really this bad? I don’t remember all the cussing and him verbally abusing his distinguished mentally-challenged girl. Bro, take it easy. I’m almost more curious how that’s going to be retold in Rebirth, moreso than the infamous Aerith scene. I’m guessing it will be toned down some. If there was some redeeming of him at some point, I’ll get to it still.. I’m at the part after the Tiny Bronco crashes in the water and Cloud and Tifa do a stage play (don’t remember that AT ALL.)
Question though, where will Rebirth end do you think? I see most people mention the Northern Cave. Any thoughts on those who remember the story pretty well?
Edit: Ok then, well, the director confirmed that it will end where the second disc orignally ended; The Forgotten Capital(?).
Cid being a POS factors into the story and yes he's always been this bad. My friend and I were playing FFVII alongside each other (comparing progress;etc) in sixth grade and we got to Cid at the same time and were talking about how much of an asshole he is the next day at school. The main question of FFVII is this: are humans redeemable? This is important because meteor is summoned to rid the planet of humans. In order to heal from the damage the planet will have to use an extraordinary amount of life force to save itself. It could use all of humanity to do so. When meteor hits the game primes you with the question on whether humans survived or not. This is done deliberately. You're on Cid, but the beginning of the game has you bombing a reactor that kills innocents. Barret, Tifa, and Cloud aren't saints either. In fact, your entire party is made of sinful, flawed people. Literal terrorists, a stark raving mad with abusive anger issues, someone that works directly for Shinra, a man turned into a monster, and a thief. The only human in the party that represents goodness is Aerith. As far as the planet is concerned there's no difference between Barret and Shinra. You should consider this as the disc works towards its close. The only other party member that is good is Red XIII and he's not a human, pushing the point further. So yes, Cid is abusive. But that's the point. As you watch the story you should start asking yourself if humanity is redeemable. Is Barret beyond redemption for allowing Shinra into Corel? Are Barret and Tifa beyond redemption for being a part of Avalanche and orchestrating terrorist attacks? And at the end of the game, they choose to redeem themselves - sacrificing themselves for the planet and save everyone's life by killing Sephiroth so Aerith can finally cast Holy. A gang of selfish fucks choose the most unselfish act - self sacrifice - and choose to die together to save many. I'll let you decide if Cid ends up redeeming himself.
Final Fantasy VII is a gaming storytelling masterpiece. The only reason it's not highly regarded today is because Square ruined its legacy by milking it to death.
The Forgotten capitol happens on disc 1.
I really appreciate this deep insight. I wish I was able to remember these things, but I was ripped 24-7 while playing this back in the day. 
Only remember bits, pieces, scenes... I've come to realize also, the original English translation is pretty shoddy. Makes me appreciate this remake even more, because the dialogue is just confusing alot of the time. I seriously don't remember any of the Black Materia stuff... Total blur. The beginning and ending cut scenes though? Permanantly embedded in my memory... and the music as well. Everytime World Crisis queues up, my eyes swell up everytime, it's so strikingly beautiful as the theme for the ultimate beacon of hope.
The translation is awful and we were never gifted with a retranslation. FFI-VI were translated multiple times. Chrono Trigger got a retranslation on the DS version. FFIV-VI retranslated for the Advanced titles but SE releases FFVII for ps4 and pc and remasters it with new features? No retranslation. SE is a far more lazy company especially in the English world these days.
The fact we never got a retranslation and yet we got a remake that wasn't even 1:1 pissed me off for the longest. VII fans living in poverty over here.
Some things to note about the English translation for FFVII:
1. When they use the word clone, they are NOT clones. Cloud is NOT a clone. When they use the word clone the word "puppet" is a better replacement. Jenova cells manipulate matter and living organisms. Once implanted, Jenova is capable of controlling what has cells inside of her. This also works backwards. Sephiroth is able to control Jenova through her cells implanted into him.
2. Black materia stuff is great Caith Sith aside. Cait Sith is such a stupid character and I wish they just used Reeve in the remake instead of that goofy mascot I hate so much.
This being said, while I was continuing my refresh watch, I forgot that Sephiroth basically controls Cloud to hand him over the Black Materia.. which brings me to Aerith's death. They said that scene will have a "Big surprise". For a moment, it crossed my mind that Sephiroth would have Cloud kill her... But... not sure what good that would do for the story other than shred Cloud apart in misery the remainder of the game, and essentially have Aerith forgive him... Either that, or Sephiroth will kill someone else as well.... the director also stated that "whoever dies, it is a permanant death".
Well shit, I just re-watched the final trailer and it shows Cloud stabbing Sephiroth through the gut, and Sephiroth embraces him and says, "Very good... fill your heart with rage"...
That was probably Aerith he truly did that too... My current hot take on that, if that is the case, it better be built up and played out with laser precision and emotion...
But at the same time, I don't want to be right.Here's that final trailer...
And about the Cid thing I brought up initially, the "abuse" part I was initially talking about was mainly the cussing. So many @%!#% inserts, I was thinking, what all is he saying? I think it doesn't matter just because it's just another part of the faulty translation. They can bring the emotionally abusive manner in this one with no problem, but would obviously have to tone the language down to keep this a Teen rating, now that this is voiced over.
