What's up with all the flashback hate?

[Mirage]

By which I mean the Nibelheim Flashback scene, why does everyone hate one of the most important scenes in the game? I just don't get it?

I had no idea everyone hated this.

How many are you talking about, really?

[Elly]

i'm sorry, i'm not trying to be hatefull, especially considering i love FFVII, look around the FFVII forums i have plenty of nice things to say and help others when they ask so i'm not hatefull about anything, youre just reading my posts with hate, just chill...
anyway in this particular case i'm being sarcastic because when i see threads about some of my favorite games, usually people have to complain about the existence of cutscenes, especially great games like FFX, FFXIII & Xenosaga... there's always someone that says "i hate those stopping me from playing the game just get on with it"... and someone will reply "i just make a sandwich when they're playing"... it totally blew my mind that that same complaint string could be leveled at FFVII, so i went into pure sarcasm mode... some may agree, some won't, but i'm far from being hatefull... if my words seem harsh or whatever, just read it in Ben Steins voice, that should make ya laugh...

[Night Fury]

I enjoyed the flashback scenes, it gives you a better knowledge of the story.

[TrollHunter]

The thing elly, is that, sarcasm or not, your post clearly showed that you only skimmed the thread before posting. Your post was overly aggressive when it didnt need to be. Reading it in a sarcastic tone isnt funny because i dont believe you ever intended for it to be funny, and it isnt a rant with any humor present.
Also, id recommend not telling others to chill as it usually has the opposite effect.

ANYWAY: i never played ff7 so i dont have an opinion on this, but replaying rpgs where you cant skip decades worth of text or cutscenes has always bugged the crap out of me.

[Bolivar]

ELLY I THOUGHT YOUR POST WAS TASTEFUL and perceptive, maybe not to the people in this thread who did like the scene, but those who have expressed arbitrary and misguided criticisms of it elsewhere.

I don't play FFVII every week, so when I get back to Kalm, I'm always immersed the creepiness of the small town tragedy, the creativeness of those freaky things in the tanks, and just the overall interactive storytelling of FFVII, climbing through the reactor, talking to the townspeople, and of course, FFVII's efficient use of dialogue choices ^_^

[Elly]

ok ok, i get it, people hate replaying it (except maybe me)... but the original question didn't ask why people hated replaying it so i assumed first playthrough... i shouldn't have nitpicked points like that, it's as bad as someone only picking out only the few negative things out of all the positive from me and calling me "Hatefull about EVERYTHING"... so for that my sincere apology, i shall try to refrain from stooping to that level again, even if it seems like someone else was coming off hatefull and snarky first... but that's neither here nor there, 2 wrongs don't make a right...


yes Bolivar, i too don't replay it often even though it ranks in my top FF games, i believe that replaying too much kills the game, so i put some time between replays... after some time has past i may have forgotten a detail here or there thus making some points fresh again... personally i like cutscenes and never skip past or speed through the dialog, call it strange but it's just how i'm wired...

[NeoCracker]

I'm ambivelent on the scene. I really liked it when I first saw it, getting to see Sephiroth kind of snap after absorbing so much horrible information in such a short time.

It's less cool, however, in hindsight when Sephiroth basically just emulates exactly what Jenova was going to do. They had a plot point that could have set Sephiroth up to be a really solid villain, but kind of dropped the ball. As such, knowing nothing that great comes from the scene, on later play throughs it didn't do anything for me.

That said it's not really bad at all.

[Bolivar]

^I think the recurring subtle ambiguity is what sets VII a part from a lot of the other stories in the series.

[Forsaken Lover]

Listen.
Final Fantasy VII-Those Chosen By The Planet(Shinra mansion) - YouTube

Ominous isn't it. Foreboding.

Cloud is running down into the basement of the Shinra Mansion with this playing in the background. He comes upon the most legendary and powerful SOLDIER ever.

And he's lost his mind.

He's ranting and raving. He hates you, he hates the townspeople, he hates all of humanity.

And then he walks away.

And the music stops. There is only silence now as Sephiroth approaches the screen.

"Out of my way. I'm going to see my mother."

BAM
Final Fantasy VII OST - Those Chosen by the Planet ~ Sephiroth's Theme - YouTube

You know from the moment that music starts up that everything is screwed. Sure enough you emerge from the Mansion a few seconds later to find the whole place already burning to the ground.

It's called exquisite cinematic direction. FFVII was a master of it.







Lacan's flashbacks were better.

[Mercen-X]

Just because something's important doesn't mean it's not stupid or that it is good.

Tha what yu aw suching foa ease "TEDIOUS"

[Forsaken Lover]

Might have been better if they let you actually control Sephiroth.

[the_best_noob]

I like the scene, for the most part. My first and second playthroughs I liked it, but as previously stated, I dislike watching the same storyline unfold while I actually have to do something. My biggest gripe was Those Chosen by the Planet. I had heard it before, in full, and when I heard it I was waiting(for about a half hour, mind you) for the ominous choir part to start in. Instead I was rewarded with the same repeated beat. That was the part that truly pissed me off.

[Mercen-X]

It really would have been awesome if the flashback had contributed something other than information. Maybe some way to obtain Cloud's Power Wrist. He was wearing one, wasn't he? Or Sephiroth's Touph Ring... somehow.

Here's a good idea for the whole lack of control in battle. Cloud and Sephiroth could be separated post-bridge-fall. Then Cloud would continue along with Tifa and an MP (no control of MP) and battle their way to that cave where Sephiroth makes spiel. Of course, this all relies on Cloud's stats not being ridiculously differed from Seph's or the Nibel enemies can have their stats reduced during the entire flashback sequence.

[Roogle]

I think the flashback would be presented as a kind of long, interactive cutscene if it was made as a video game today. It was an interesting thing to play through on my first time through the game, but it can be a bit monotonous if you know the plot already.

[DMKA]

Because the game forces you into random battles even though you do nothing in them, making them pointless, which is a boring waste of time.

Yes, it's one of the most important portions of the game later on, but it's executed poorly because it's just not very fun, or interesting if it's your first playthrough.