FFVII - Possible new discovery and mystery theory (Man in sector 5 slums)
Okay, one of the biggest mysteries in FFVII is 'who the f**k is the guy the pipe?' Let me conspire, and shed something new unto the community.
Although I'm only writing this to share with people something they might find interesting, I'd like to stress out that this is not primarily a rant about Aeris and Zack, and possible ways to resurrect them. I may speculate on this at some point, but I'd like people to pay attention to what I'm really talking about, rather than give me the old 'get over it, they died' remarks.
Well, in my mind, it could just be a reference to future events in the game, something you find throughout the game, especially when playing the game over again. Or, the man in the pipe could be a character that is left to your imagination to resolve. Who knows?
It's without doubt that even if there was anything extra in the game, looking in every nook and cranny is seemingly futile to the larger extent. But if there was anything more we don't know about that was taken out of the game (like being able to revive Aeris, for example) then looking for pieces of that which were accidentally left there would at least be worth while. That, or, as distant of a hope it may seem, Square programmers left hidden quests in the game that we have not discovered yet. This doesn't seem as likely, especially considering we have not found anything like this despite stripping most of the game down with computer tools. However, game programmers and artists have always done things like this in gaming history, so maybe it's no that much of distant hope afterall.
So, I'll get down to it. I have three copies of FFVII (versions bought in the UK, I should add!), although I can only find two disc 1s, one of which does not load and can only be played by opening the disc cover and swapping, and the other (which I used) is temperamental at times, mostly at cutscenes in the first quarter of the disc (no idea why only those ones), but overall runs fine. You're probably wondering why you need to know this, but hear me out.
If you're a FFVII veteran, when you start a new game and you play through awaking in Aeris' Church to where she is first captured by the ShinRa, you can't help but look for secrets and little bits of information, by analyzing everything carefully, just in case you missed anything.
Well, this is true for me also, and I came across two things which never took to my imagination before. First of all, my game having spazzems at points in the game where you'd expect there to be hidden things, if at all there was any. And the second thing, one of my old, old theories on the guy in the pipe coming to life. I'll start with the first:
I start a new game, casually, as I do about once or twice a year. Everything loaded fine aside from cutscenes, (which work fine after the escape from the ShinRa building, for some reason) way up until I get to Cloud awakening in Aeris church (It is at this point in the game that I always look for hidden bits of info that I might have missed out). This is where my PS1 starts arguing with the FFVII disc over what to load, and the PS is winning. Whenever the game loads a new field map (background, new screen, etc) it starts to go spazzy. This, I thought, was interesting, due to the specific part of the game I am at. So I run from the ShinRa soldiers, out of the Church and up to where you gain control of Cloud, all whilst experiencing crappy loading times and even the game giving me the 'No, can't do that' sound whilst loading new field maps. This carried on until the fork in the path where left is the inaccessible road to wall market, and up to the Sector 5 slums. I go up to the slums and Cloud in all his polygon- 1997 glory, freezes, and a few seconds later and I control him again and go up for another :skull::skull::skull::skull: loading time. I then enter the Sector 5 slums, where moving around is continuously edgy. I put up with it and go shopping, then finally go to the large pipe renowned for having a man in there with a number '2' tattoo, and a weird feeling to him that you'd only recognize on at least your second go at the game. I suddenly realize that perhaps all the mystery this part of the game has to it, and my abnormally long loading times have some connection. I thought not much more of it, and continued on with the game. The only thing that made sense to me was the incorrect grammer from Aeris when talking to the man outside the pipe who tells you he's unwell. It struck me, that perhaps this is the remains of part the game that was taken out during production (we know from proof that there was some parts of the game taken out, parts that you can't find or view without a game file viewer on a pc). I continue on through the events with Aeris, and through the wall market quest where I remember my old theory on the pipe, which involved keeping an item you acquire from the item store (disinfectant, deodorant or digestive) and taking it to the man in the pipe to heal him on the next mandatory visit there. However, I never actually managed to test this, as I always wanted to get all the items for Cloud's cross dressing experience xD. But, when I arrived back in the Sector 5 slum, after the Sector 7 plate fell, I talk to the man outside the pipe to hear something new. Although I can't remember what's said exactly, it was something like this: "wow, despite everything, you keep on going, You must have really been through the mill to get that" (to get what?). But more strikingly, somewhere in the text there's another very visible grammer mistake. Now, although the English translation wasn't perfect, I find it rather strange that there's two mistakes right here along with something that doesn't even make sense. It becomes apparent to me that the man in the pipe is more than some random guy just to make you think early on in the game. It became more and more apparent that this was a part of the game taken out during production. Whether or not there's anymore to it than that which is explorable in-game, without the aid of any specialist software is beyond me.
Anyways, I hope that you enjoyed me sharing this, and sorry if any of it was known already but as far as I know there's no real evidence like this. If anyone would care to explore my wall market theory at all, with or without the aid of a game shark, please do.
-OneWingd.
