I just have to express my feelings, oh my god.
That is perhaps my favorite chapter out of both Remake AND Rebirth combined (So far, I just started chapter 14 of Rebirth).
Firstly, it was long, I remember being about ten hours into the chapter and feeling like I’d gotten halfway, but I looked my progress on the home screen and realized I hadn’t even made it to fifteen percent. It was mind boggling. Despite that, I enjoyed myself so damn much.
The more the chapter continued, the more stressed and curious I became about how the story would unfold.
Gameplay wise, I love how it utilized locked party and party selection at its given moments. The B team with Aerith, Nanaki and Yuffie was such an interesting combination I’ve never thought to try before then. I also loved how Aerith’s heritage as a Cetra helped with navigating the labyrinth. The first half of changing angle of the room gave me a few good head scratchers, but it was mega rewarding to understand how the layout works. The battles were mega fun too, and forced me to think about my approach to combat in ways I hadn’t done before. Every time I lost a battle, I knew it was because of my tactic and not the game having a difficulty spike. Also, I’m giving a shoutout to Tifa for being my MVP this chapter.
Story wise, there so much to gush about, I don’t even know where to start. I had played the OG for the first time earlier this year, so it was more or less still fresh in my mind. I don’t know how to explain it, but this version feels like the much more realized version of vision the developers may have had for the original. The personal trial of each character (Myrna and Baby Aerith really made me tear up), Cloud’s (not so) slow descent into madness, Cloud giving Sephiroth the black materia. When Cloud asked Aerith, “Are you done?” While she was giving her beautiful speech, I wanted to jump into the TV to beat him up. Man, when I tell y’all I was STRESSED, I mean it! Had to pause the game a few times to catch my breath.
I especially want to give a shoutout to Cody Christian, Cloud’s voice actor. During part where Aerith is trying her absolute best to keep the black materia away from Cloud because she knows he’s under Sephiroth’s influence, Christain’s voice acting really shines. From flat voice he keeps throughout most of the Temple, to the mocking sing-song-y nature of calling Aerith’s name, to the sheer desperation of trying to get his hands on the black materia, Christian really gives one hell of a performance.
My only nitpick is that I was hoping I’d hear a closer rendition of You Can Hear the Cry of the Planet, because that’s my favorite track off the OG’s OST, but the music regardless was phenomenal.
God… what a work of art chapter 13 was.
