The reasons why FFVII gamers can choose to ignore The Compilation if they wish

[Charcoal]

- SPOILER -

This topic may contain sensitive info for those of you who believe The Compilation to be an unquestionable part of the Final Fantasy VII plot!

(SPOILER)Never did the lifestream become infected by Sephiroth’s death. Jenova cells are not stuck in the soul of the victim, but the body. After all, they have to be injected in order to operate. When someone in Final Fantasy VII dies it is their life energy that returns to the planet. Their body however, remains. This is one thing Dirge of Cerberus does wrong. In DoC, Grimoire Valentine’s body disappears, almost like in Final Fantasy X.

A few examples of what changes The Compilation have done to the original plot of Final Fantasy VII. Many Final Fantasy VII fans do not want to take The Compilation in consideration when discussing it. This is because they believe The Compilation to be retcon. Some of those who welcome The Compilation claim that if you use your imagination enough the prequels/sequels can fit perfectly into the original script. Others say that even if the prequels/sequels are retcon, they’re still there whether the Compilation Haters like it or not, because the new information is official.

So do The Compilation Haters have a significant reason to ignore the prequels/sequels even when taking them into consideration when discussing Final Fantasy VII? The ones accepting The Compilation often say that if you don’t like the prequels/sequels, stick with the original PSX/PC game and forget that The Compilation even exists.

With that said, what can a Compilation Hater come up with? Quite a lot actually, in this topic I’ll show every Final Fantasy VII gamer on the forum why you are free to ignore The Compilation entirely, even when considering it alongside the original game.

Just because the information is official do Compilation Haters have to stick with it? Do Compilation Haters have to forever be stuck in 1997, just pretending The Compilation don’t exist? The answers are, no and no. Just because a game has a title including "Final Fantasy VII" does that mean a guarantee plot change free prequel/sequel? The obvious answer here is of course, no.

First of all, it’s very obvious The Compilation’s very existence is based on Square Enix’s desire for profits. The first thing to notice is this:

Fantasy VII – Released January 31, 1997 (JPN)

Final Fantasy VII: Before Crisis (the first instalment in The Compilation) – Released September 29, 2004 (JPN)

The Compilation was never intended in the first place and still people accept the prequels/sequels as part of the plot. And Square Enix don’t just provide fillers, they alter the original script, as I described earlier in this topic. Since The Compilation is indeed an official product, go ahead and enjoy it if you want. However, that doesn’t change the fact that the original Final Fantasy VII plot is different from The Compilation plot.

With that said I’ll finish this post with the words, yes people, we can choose to ignore Final Fantasy VII: Retcon Version, if we want, even if we consider The Compilation among the original game. After all, these prequels/sequels were never part of Final Fantasy VII in the first place.

[psyniac_123]

I totally understand that, but I choose to embrace it all. Yes, you can use your imagination to bring it all together and it makes a much better story that way with all these different aspects.
But, of course, it's up to you.

[Elly]

i think a lot of the things that don't seem to fit properly can be attributed to the poor translation of the original FF VII, i'm sure if they redid it with a better translator, then things would make more sense, but unfortunatealy SE has NO plans of re-releasing VII as long as the original is still available, regardless everything in all the prequals and sequals is in fact cannon, and i think of it as a way of clearing things up that were misunderstood due to the bad translation of VII to begin with...

[Charcoal]

Now I doubt translation errors explain every new aspect of The Compilation considering the amount of changes done.

[Elly]

now i didn't say everything, i said a lot of things, still there's some unanswered questions and inconsistancies they may address later but that's up to S-E if they wanna straighten up those few things left undone / unanswered / unexplained, but it is a fantasy world after all that continues to grow and evolve, and in their world there may be a direct link to the soul and body, being one thing and not something seperate, notice how they just fade away like Jedi when they die, except for Aerith, but she's the exception to most of their rules...

[Ryushikaze]

If you don't want to accept it, fine. That makes it no less official. Deal with it.

[Charcoal]

True, however my point was that official do not necessarily mean 100 % correct. I do not accept retcon and so I ignore The Compilation when discussing FFVII. If you like The Compilation on the other hand then of course thats ok, I just wanted to point out that there are differences. Many people seem to miss out on that and so mix the two versions together. The results of that tend to get confusing at times. So thats why I found it useful to tell.

now i didn't say everything, i said a lot of things, still there's some unanswered questions and inconsistancies they may address later but that's up to S-E if they wanna straighten up those few things left undone / unanswered / unexplained, but it is a fantasy world after all that continues to grow and evolve, and in their world there may be a direct link to the soul and body, being one thing and not something seperate, notice how they just fade away like Jedi when they die, except for Aerith, but she's the exception to most of their rules...

The story of Final Fantasy VII was a complex one, and many still believe much of the story to be undone/unanswered. But its not, in fact you can figure pretty much everything. I don't have many questions regarding the game left, if any at all. As one of my favourite games, FFVII have been spinning in my PSX for some time now. FFVII was never an unfinished game, it just left you with a bunch of hard to figure questions regarding things like Jenova, Vincent's past, lifestream etc. Like I said, The Compilation do not add fillers, Square Enix use these prequels/sequels to change the script in return for profits.

[darksword12]

What's a compilation?

[Elly]

a compilation is a collection, in this case it's all the games, movie, anime, and novelas in the FF VII universe, being: Crisis Core (PSP), Meteorfall (original FF VII game - PSX/PSone), Last Order (Anime), The Maiden That Traveled the Planet (Novela), The Way to a Smile (Novela), Advent Children (CGI Movie), and Dirge of Cerberus (PS2), this list is also in order of events, not necessarily order of release, except "Last Order" which appears to be mostly a giant flashback sequence to the time before Meteorfall, from the time after the destruction of Midgar, hard to chronolize that one...

[Darth Anarcus]

I keep telling people: the Compilation is an expanded universe. It's canon, but not on the same level of canonicity as the original game. Why? Because not one of them has been an RPG. Unlike FFX-2, they are not true sequels or prequels but spin-offs. The only way FF7 will ever have a true sequel will be if there is another RPG with the same elements of a normal Final Fantasy game. (And preferably entirely independent of the Compilation. It can rely on the Compilation as filler between the games, but the plot should be entirely understandable without it.)

I think the Compilation is okay for the most part. It's not great, and personally, I think Square handled it entirely wrong. But I still accept it as canonical. Secondary canon, though. And as much as I detest FFX-2 with every ounce of my being, I still respect it as a true sequel and accept it on the same level of canon as FFX. I'd do the same for a FF7-2, regardless of whether or not it's good.

[The Crystal]

The problem is when some people decide to ignore things like Ultimania Omega Guide and Reunion Files. These two books aren't prequels or sequels. They don't add any new plot or characters in the story(of FFVII and AC). They just give the answers to most of our questions. But Compilation Haters don't want to accept these answers. Why?

Never did the lifestream become infected by Sephiroth’s death. Jenova cells are not stuck in the soul of the victim, but the body. After all, they have to be injected in order to operate. When someone in Final Fantasy VII dies it is their life energy that returns to the planet. Their body however, remains.

An interesting theory about the true nature of Jenova, to anyone that want to read it:

http://forums.adventchildren.net/sho...t=Jenova+Chaos

[NeoCracker]

To ignore the compilation would be the same as to do this.

A murder victam was found stabbed and had been stabbed in the side. The presumed Cause of death was the stab, however during the autopsy a deadly poison is found in his system, and presumably the poison had been in there long enough to kill him the day before his body was found. However, they still report Death by Stab wound, and ignore the fact he was poisoned. You are doing the same thing by rejecting future information and assuming it is false while the old information is true.

Yes, this example is extreme, but I work in extremes.

[Setzer Gabianni]

I embraced it, I just wasn't happy with the results. I want to embrace such titles as LO, CC, BC, but 1) I don't have the consoles to play them on 2) I have no idea where you can get LO legally. I wanted to find out more myself about VII. AC, came off as short. Eh..can't describe it with other words right now. DoC..seemed a bit uneeded. If Vincent was such an important character to have a game based on, why did they not include him in the main game itself? Would have been better that way.

._.

[ReloadPsi]

The Compilation was a complete success if you look at it from these two points of view:

All the fanboys that adored it finally shut their traps about more FF7 stuff coming out.

All those that hated it stopped gagging for more so Square-Enix could get on with some original projects.

Other than that, Charcoal, you've got it bang on.

On a personal note, I found that Advent Children in particular confirmed one thing for me: Jenova was the real villain, and Sephiroth was just being her bitch.

[Charcoal]

I keep telling people: the Compilation is an expanded universe. It's canon, but not on the same level of canonicity as the original game. Why? Because not one of them has been an RPG. Unlike FFX-2, they are not true sequels or prequels but spin-offs. The only way FF7 will ever have a true sequel will be if there is another RPG with the same elements of a normal Final Fantasy game. (And preferably entirely independent of the Compilation. It can rely on the Compilation as filler between the games, but the plot should be entirely understandable without it.)

Yes, they are best described as spin-offs. And yes it is an expanded universe of Final Fantasy VII. However, this expanded universe cannot be entirely canon when considering it alongside the 1997 Final Fantasy VII because there are notable differences between the two. Thats why they can't act as fillers between the games.

The problem is when some people decide to ignore things like Ultimania Omega Guide and Reunion Files. These two books aren't prequels or sequels. They don't add any new plot or characters in the story(of FFVII and AC). They just give the answers to most of our questions. But Compilation Haters don't want to accept these answers. Why?

As a Compilation Hater I'll answer your question. Advent Children also add twists to the FFVII plot; however those who accept The Compilation don't seem to notice that too often. This is probably due to Dirge of Cerberus' vast amount of retcon even when compared to the rest of The Compilation. I must admit, Advent Children look ace and it is fun to watch. But I like the original plot of FFVII more and so choose to put AC together with the rest of the spin-offs.

To ignore the compilation would be the same as to do this.

A murder victam was found stabbed and had been stabbed in the side. The presumed Cause of death was the stab, however during the autopsy a deadly poison is found in his system, and presumably the poison had been in there long enough to kill him the day before his body was found. However, they still report Death by Stab wound, and ignore the fact he was poisoned. You are doing the same thing by rejecting future information and assuming it is false while the old information is true.

Yes, this example is extreme, but I work in extremes.

I'm rejecting the future information because it is retcon. I presume the point of this example was that the poison did most of the work, yet the stab was what ended it? FFVII had a complex plot yes, but like I said earlier in this topic, most of the answers to the difficult questions are in the game. They are tough to locate though, because they're scattered among various pieces of text that apparently is no where near where they "should" be.

Btw, I would love to read the Jenova theory but it requires a password I don't have. I guess you brought it up because you believe my version here to be wrong? Well I'm always open for discussion .