The Final Fantasy VII Remake has sparked a lot of interest in many aspects of the fandom. This includes the original game, its spinoffs, the series as a whole, and Square Enix itself. The game has done a lot of good.Â
However, let’s look instead at one of the darker sides of the franchise. Whether one likes Advent Children or not, one thing is clear. A lot of the plot lines do not make sense. In honor of the remake’s release let’s go back and try to make sense out of some these riddles. There will be spoilers so be wary.Â
10 Shinra Survivors
The logic problems start from the get-go with Rufus being revealed to be alive. In the original game he was seen taking a full blast to the face from a WEAPON. No one could have survived that.
However, as he wasn’t directly shown being melted by fire, there was some leniency on his survival along with how Tseng “dies” at the Temple of the Ancients. The revival that is most upsetting is Sephiroth, which defeats the triumph of the original ending. Cloud obliterates him with Omnislash.Â
9 Rufus’ Scheme
Let’s go back to Rufus for a second. So his whole plan to fool the Sephiroth triplets, Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz, was to wear a bedsheet and have Jenova on him at all times? Why didn’t anyone try to look under there beforehand? Did they just think he was badly burned? Wouldn’t one of the clones have sensed Jenova on him? It’s a very convenient plot point that feels out of place.Â
8 Where Did The Triplets Come From
Speaking of the clones, how exactly were they born? In the movie it is implied that Sephiroth’s sheer will came out of the Lifestream to form them. In the Turks video, they are somewhat naked but cloth their bodies in darkness sort of like how the Organization XIII powers work in Kingdom Hearts. Those same powers of darkness also let Kadaj summon those monsters to attack Cloud in the beginning.Â
7 Wrong Summon Materia
So Kadaj can somehow channel darkness to create life. How? No idea, but there is another summoning ritual that is more of a nitpick than a real senseless action. He uses Blue Materia to summon Bahamut. To quote the Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons, “Worst movie ever.” Summon Materia is Red, duh. Color stuff aside, his ability to alter how Summons work from the game also doesn’t add up. So now all of a sudden they can attack in full force? Darkness is a deus ex machina of a technique.Â
6 Chained Orphans
When Kadaj and the others can’t find Jenova, they eventually assume the monument in the middle of the city is where she is hiding. Why? No idea. Why they chain orphans up to it when their plan is to blow it up via Bahamut also does not make a lick of sense. Were they supposed to be hostages, or what?Â
5 Other Materia Problems
Kadaj using Blue Materia to call forth Bahamut is just one issue of several related to the magical crystals. For example, their size in the film is the first time they are shown to be bigger than a fist whereas in the game it seemed like they were much smaller.
Size can be debated, but how exactly do the triplets absorb Materia into their bodies? It’s like the writers didn’t want to follow any lore established in the game. Their mission statement was seemingly, “As long as it looks cool, who cares?”
4 Fusion Sword
Another mission statement was to make everything bigger. Bigger means better as does more of something. What is cooler than Cloud’s Buster Sword? A sword that breaks apart into a bunch of smaller swords. How? Doesn’t matter, just make it look cool. Admittedly Cloud’s Fusion Sword from his back model to the ones stored in his bike do indeed look spectacular. How they work is another story.Â
3 Heaven Or Lifestream?
Advent Children lifted some stuff from Star Wars. For example, both Aerith and Zack could appear before Cloud and even interact with him in some way. It’s a lot like a Force Ghosts. When Sephiroth was about to kill her in the original game did Aerith say, “ If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.” Hopefully the remake doesn’t go down this road.
2 Fenrir
There is another spiritual aspect of the game that doesn’t quite fit. Fenrir is the name of the wolf that randomly appears throughout the film. Cloud even has a pendant, brooch, or whatever strapped to his shirt of a wolf. There was nothing wolflike this in the original game.
That is to say this aspect of his character is new. Some have speculated that its the manifestation of Cloud’s guilt over letting Aerith and Zack die, which if true, is never said in the movie.Â
1 Vincent’s Cape Lives?
Let’s end this one with something silly. What exactly is up with Vincent’s cape? In the game it’s just that, a cape. In the film it seems to have an identity of its own like some sort of ever-growing sentient material. It’s reminiscent of Dr. Strange’s cape, or Spawn’s. While it doesn’t make sense one thing is for sure. It looks rad.Â