I thought the role of "sorceress's puppet" worked quite well, and liked how his increase in extremism eventually led to the emotional moment when his sidekicks tell him he's gone too far. Fujin even stopped yelling. One of the more moving parts of the game.
True, it's better than the Tifa/Aeris stuff. Especially with Tifa friendzoning the trout out of him and yet flipping out when he shows interest in someone else (say in the cells, when she's all "well EXCUSE me. So what's it like being a planet hugging hippy?", heh). Though one could argue that it's realistic, I've known a few of the Tifa types in my time...