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« on: 2020-04-12 12:14:50 »
Part of the problem here is that people are talking at cross purposes, since they come with different assumptions to the discussion. If you view a game as mere entertainment and you just want to have a fun time in the X amount of hours you spend on it, then some of the criticisms expounded will mean nothing to you; on the other hand if you want something more out of the experience, a simple thing like a crappy plot device will probably tarnish it. If you think there is no fact of the matter about the quality of a game, that all opinions are equally valid and there is no real knowledge to be had, then a criticism, any criticism, may start to sound like "invalidating your experience" (to paraphrase someone on the thread); on the other hand, if you do think there are objective standards through which the quality of a game is to be measured, then the first questions you ought to be answering are what are those standards and how are they to be gauged. If you think fidelity to the original story, maybe even the mechanics (turn based with ATB is very different from action RPG), is an important factor since after all the game does bear FFVII in the title, then the deviations will matter; if you are not that concerned with fidelity, a paltry resemblance to the original will suffice and any deviations will probably be a welcomed novelty.
In the original game, Jessie is a minor character with very few lines. Her last lines are spoken on the stairs to the plate, and are a recognition of the stark effects of her actions and an acceptance of her fate. Through acceptance, she gains dignity, atones and redeems herself, and in redeeming herself she redeems all mankind. This is all done in a few lines of text. Is this Shakespeare? No, not really, but shows solid craftsmanship, an awareness of tragedy and real human sympathy by giving what is a minor character a moment to shine.
It seems in the remake they give Jessie much more airtime, even some flirting with Cloud (from a love-triangle to a love-square?). Avalanche's actions are not really terrorism because it is Shinra that eventually destroys the reactors and causes all the death and mayhem. It seems Jessie will not die, so she will not have a tragic end but neither will she have her redemption. Is this in any way better? Does it flesh out a real character, or is it just padding the game with cutscenes and dialogue? Does it even matter? It depends on how you answer the previous questions -- which themselves are subject to rational discussion, I should add. With the caveat that I have seen very little footage, it seems to me there is a real loss here in story quality, in tragic pathos. But then I am not going to buy the game anyway -- not because of any ill will towards it, but because I only have a PC and with not a powerful enough graphics card, and I have better things to do anyway.