This has always been my assumption after I played both titles, thematically, the games carry over a lot of elements from each other so, I feel Square was trying to emulate the NES/Famicom entries while also striking out into a new path for the series. Honestly, with the exception of Cid's "death" I am not really bothered by any of the others. I mean Edward was actually badly injured from his disaster; Yang lost his memory and then later, was in a coma for the second incident; Tellah actually died; and the Twins were only able to be restored thanks to the power of one of the world's most powerful mage; so yeah. I only felt Cid's sacrifice was a bit over the top and ridiculous but then again, Cid was kind of a comic relief character from the beginning...