This Is Cloud And Roche To Me

No offense bro, but why are you always so protective of Cloud? No disrespect to you or anything but I've heard quite a bit of different opinions and theories on Cloud myself and I do agree with the people who say that he takes Tifa for granted. Going through trauma in the past is not really an excuse for his behavior. He also does act like he's the only one who has suffered in his life. Do you have other reason to defend him other than the fact that you "relate" to him? Just wondering.

Sorry for the late reply, my life has basically left no room for hobbies these past months. Your question is hard to reply to because I am not sure what you mean when you say I am protective of him. I guess you mean I defend his actions? Specifically in ACC? Firstly let me state that there is a difference between being a good character and being a nice character, there is also a difference between agreeing with someones actions, or just understanding them. Personally, I never really liked Cloud, especially not when I was younger. A lot of my defense of Cloud doesn't come from me personally liking him, but from me thinking he's a good character. I also think Snape is a good character, but I don't like his actions, and I don't defend them, although I still understand them to a certain degree. I should also say that as I started to understand Clouds character more, I also started liking HIM a bit more, although I still don't like the things he did, and would very likely not be friends with him. But I do understand why he did what he did and cannot be too critical of him because of that. You've probably heard that before you judge someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That's great advice, if you want to judge someone, you should imagine what it would be like to be them, however, I've noticed that too often when people try to walk a mile in someone elses shoes, they refuse to take their own shoes off first. They don't think "what would it be like to be him", they think "what would I do in that position". But Cloud is not you, and you cannot judge him by how you would act, you've not gone through the same things he has, your thought patterns aren't the same etc. This matters because too often I see people judging Clouds actions in ACC, and establishing his motivations by saying things that boil down to "If I were in his position, I would only do those actions if I loved Aerith/didn't love Tifa/whatever". But they're not Cloud, and they're not understanding how Cloud thinks, and that it's different from how THEY think. But like you said, I do see some recognizable elements of myself in Cloud, which is why I do understand his actions, and why I feel relatively certain in defending them, because I see them coming from a good place. It's common for me to react to things in a way that others find counter-intuitive. Let me give you an example, my brother once was mad at me because I had not told him my girlfriend of several years and I had broken up while I did tell a random stranger at the pub. He said that he felt like he wasn't important to me if I told a random stranger but not him. The truth was the exact opposite, I love my brother, and could not bear to face him for some reason, as I told him: "if not caring enough was the problem, then I wouldn't have told a random stranger". I see people exhibit that same lack of understanding when discussing Clouds actions, where they feel like his actions must be the sign of him just being a bad person, or not caring. But ask yourself what is more likely, that Square-enix wants their hero to be a bad person, or that you simply are misunderstanding the character? I understand why people don't get Cloud, Cloud suffers from obvious mental health issues, and mental health issues simply are not something that the general public understands, even today. Not only that, but Cloud went through the most insane series of traumatic events anyone could ever imagine. He had an alien parasite in him, saw his entire town murdered before his eyes, then saw Zack murdered in front of his eyes, then saw Aerith murdered in front of his eyes, and just when he started living a peaceful life he is forced to watch his child succumb to sickness in front of his eyes, and then he finds he himself is dying. All this on the psyche of a man who had had a fear of failure ever since he was a child, spent most of his life essentially in war, and had a severe identity crisis as well. Do you think you can honestly judge him by going "that's not what I would have done"? Would that not be incredibly

presumptuous? Have you suffered from depression as a result of severe post-war PTSD and a lifelong feeling of inadequacy combined with a fear of failure and the belief that many of your loved once died because you failed and were inadequate? Because that's the context in which you have to view Cloud when watching Advent Children. Saying "Going through trauma in the past is not really an excuse for his behavior" is just incredibly short-sighted, your behavior is determined by who you are, and who you are is determined by what you go through in the past. You can't expect a broken child to became a well-adjusted adult when being a well-adjusted adult is the result of having a normal childhood.

I also don't want to cause offense, but this really is a mindset you should change, because this mindset is one of the most pervasive and damaging ones in our society, it's the one that probably bothers me most when I hear it because it makes zero sense. It's like breaking a robots self-repair unit, and then being angry at it on the grounds that the self-repair unit should have fixed it. It's also very insensitive in general, it's the equivalent of saying "why are you depressed, just stop being depressed", people don't choose to be depressed, people don't choose to have a fear of failure. People don't choose their emotions, they're just there. They can be influenced by behavior over time, sure, but behavior is equally influenced by who you are and your emotions, which, as mentioned before, is determined for a large part by your past. People don't just "snap out of it". They fight and fight and fight, and sometimes they win and break out of the spiral, and sometimes they lose and it breaks them.

FFVII, and especially Advent children, is all about that struggle, and during those struggles you will have high-points, and low-points. FFVII shows all of those. It shows Cloud trying, it shows Cloud wanting, it shows Cloud failing, but it also, ultimately, shows Cloud prevailing. Judging Cloud for not breaking out of the spiral by the time of Advent children, when he was mentally only barely 18 years old, and when he started at the worst place anyone could ever imagine, is just not reasonable. It's the modern day equivalent of "let them eat cake", something that can only be said from the place of privilege of not knowing what the struggles of the people you're critiquing are actually like. So having that out of the way, lets look at Clouds actions from the perspective of Cloud. Cloud is a young boy, and he's in love with the girl next door, he wants to get her to notice him. One day said girl walks up a mountain and he follows, she falls off a bridge and ends in a coma. Cloud followed her because he's in love with her, and he gets the blame from the adults. Cloud internalizes this, and its important to imagine what this must be like for a child, to have the adults all tell him it's his fault that the person he loves ended up hurt. "your fault", "your fault". Afterwards Cloud starts thinking Tifa hates him and starts acting out. I think this is a good moment to point out btw that this child has no father figure. This is the start of his feelings of failure and inadequacy, he blames himself for not being able to protect Tifa, failure number 1, he thinks that if he were strong, he'd be able to protect her, he thinks that if he were like Sephiroth, then even Tifa would have to notice him. Now until this time Cloud is not an asshole, he's a bit of a rebellious kid yes, but notice that he's not a bad kid as much as he's a kid who wants to protect someone, has no direction, and is acting out. So Cloud thinks he's not good enough, but he leaves town confident that he'll become good enough, and even makes a promise to Tifa. All this follows logically from what we know about Cloud, and tells us a lot about how deeply seated these feelings are. Becoming Soldier wasn't a small thing, not some small passion project that he just came up with one day, it's the result of the things that happened in his childhood and he left everything behind make it so. He told the girl he loved, he promised, he boasted. And then he failed. Failure number 2. He comes back to Nibleheim and can't bear to look Tifa in the eye and admit that he couldn't do it, that he's a failure. His entire life so far has revolved around this and he wasn't good enough. So here we have Cloud, not in a great mindset, thinking he's a failure, and what happens? His entire town is murdered by the person he admired, someone he worked with. His Mother is killed, and Tifa, the girl he PROMISED to protect, gets slashed open so badly that apparently she needed to have her ribcage reinforced with metal. I think we can all agree that this by itself would be enough to potentially scar a person for life. (Cloud, not Tifa XD) So what's next for the boy who left town in order to become a hero? Well, he gets captured and experimented on for 4 years, during which his mind and sense of identity is bombarded with memories and knowledge of the lifestream in the form of mako, muddying up his thoughts. Cloud already had a weak sense of self as a result of his childhood, it's why he failed to enter Soldier and now this distaste for who he is makes him extra susceptible to Jenovas influence. The next thing Cloud sees, (he didn't consciously experience the 4 years of mind-fuckery) is his best friend getting killed trying to protect him, because Cloud wasn't strong enough. Failure #3. At this point, in Clouds mind the list of people dead because he could not protect them, because he's a failure, include his mother, his entire town, his best friend, and as far as he knows, the girl he loves. This is his life. His mind is broken, he hates himself, he doesn't want to be himself,

he has a mind-altering parasite inside of him trying to adjust his identity and Clouds just goes "I reject this reality and constitute my own". And why wouldn't he? Why wouldn't he want to live in a fantasy world where he wasn't a failure, where he made it into soldier, where he was cool and successful and not a disappointing failure? Zack tells him to be his living legacy and Cloud goes with it, then he runs into Tifa, Jenova adjusts Cloud further based on Tifas memories of them and rejoined with the girl for whom he joined Soldier Cloud is unconsciously all too willing to play the part. FFVII starts and it doesn't take long for the cracks in his fake persona to show, he meets Aerith, and becomes her bodyguard. He gets to be the hero he always wanted to be. But then, even as "Cloud strife, soldier first class", Cloud is still a failure, the plate still drops, killing thousands, he gives Sephiroth the black materia, he beats up Aerith, and ultimately, fails to save her as well. Tifa was the First Failure, and Aerith was the Final Failure. Even as a soldier, Cloud still couldn't save anyone, he loses even more faith in himself, he doesn't know who he is, he doesn't trust himself, and then when he also loses Tifas trust in who he is, he just breaks and gives over to Jenova/Sephiroth. Even Hojo calls him a failure. Cloud feels like a nobody. Now mentally weakened, under the influence of jenova cells, he gives Sephiroth the black materia AGAIN, and meteor is summoned. Another entry on the long list of moments Cloud can look back on in shame later on in life. He falls into the lifestream and again his psyche is under attack. We know what happens afterwards, Tifa finds him, cares for him, and saves him through his feelings for her. Cloud realizes who he is, realizes he's weak, and goes after Sephiroth without lying to himself. In the end he defeats Sephiroth mentally and is supposedly rid of his direct influence.

But that doesn't mean that this mentally 17 year old is now fine, we should remember these events when analyzing ACC. Cloud has been in constant fighting/war/peril ever since he left home as a child, and is now a traumatized 17 year old in a 21 year olds body. Novels and other materials give us an insight into how Cloud thinks during these times, and how he thinks about himself. We hear him say that he's going to live because that's the only way he can atone for his sins. He talks about wanting to change, and about believing he can change because he now has Tifa. He's a man (boy) who just exited war, and wants to be positive, but is still clearly blaming himself. We see that this initially goes well, we are told that Cloud experiences peace and happiness that he's never experienced before. We're also told about the things that make it go badly, when he has to deliver flowers to the ancient city for instance. While Cloud regained the sense of who he was the belief that he wasn't good enough, that he was a failure, was never solved, if anything it was put on hold until he got his memories back, and now he is forced to deal with it.

While he is no longer directly manipulated by Sephiroth he's still suffering from PTSD and, most notably, survivors guilt. He blames himself for the deaths of Zack and Aerith in particular, and starts visiting the church. Now most people might think it's natural to avoid places that make you feel bad about yourself, but that's not how a depressed person thinks, Cloud thinks he deserves to feel badly he WANTS to punish himself, he WANTS to feel bad. He's ashamed of the moments where he's carefree and laughing with Tifa. Why should he get to be happy when Aerith and Zack are dead because of him? He shouldn't be happy, he should be in pain, he should remember them, not doing so would be an insult to their memories, he must never forget how he failed them! That's how Cloud is thinking. We know of course that this is non-sense, Aerith and Zack wouldn't want this, if anything it's this mindset that is tarnishing the memories of Aerith and Zack, but that's not how a mentally unwell person thinks. Cloud wants to atone, and thinks he finds salvation in Denzel, whom he finds at Aeriths church. He thinks that by saving this life, he can, in some way, make up for all the death he caused. Tifa has a similar belief when she finds out Denzels parents died in the plate crash. And when Denzel joins the family, and Cloud has path towards redemption in his mind, things start getting better again. Because this is the cause of the problems Cloud is having in ACC. When Nojima says:

first off, there’s the premise that things won’t go well between Tifa and Cloud, and that even without Geostigma or Sephiroth this might be the same

This is the conflict he's talking about, he's not saying "Tifa and Cloud are incompatible, it has nothing to do with Sephiroth", he's saying "if Sephiroth didn't show up during Advent children, Cloud and Tifa would still be having problems because Cloud is going through survivors guilt."

But the good times don't last, Denzel has Geostigma and Cloud cannot find a cure, Denzel....is going to die. Cloud, has failed again. Not only that, but Cloud catches Geostigma....Cloud is going to die. And THIS is why Cloud leaves in Advent children. And you have to look at this as Cloud. Cloud said he was going to live to atone for his sins, but instead he's going to die. He won't atone for his sins, even worse, he's going to leave Tifa and Marlene behind. He failed again. He couldn't protect Denzel, he potentially brought an infectious disease into their house as well. Literally all Cloud can think about is that literally everything he's ever tried has ended in failure, everyone he's ever tried to protect, he's failed at. Do you understand how easy it would be for a person like this to fall into the trap of thinking "I deserve to die", "I don't want Tifa and Marlene to see me die", "Tifa and Marlene are better off without me anyway", "they'd be happier if I weren't here". Etc. Now we know this is nonsense, but come on, how many instances have you heard of depressed people genuinely believing that their loved ones would be happier and better off if they just didn't exist? However, throughout the movie, Zack, Tifa, and Aerith, all confront Cloud, and urge him to not give up. Cloud eventually does try again, and ultimately finds redemption not by being stuck in the past, but by letting the past rest and be beautiful (a lesson Cleriths unfortunately never learned). "I never blamed you you know, not once" "I want to be forgiven. By who?" "Isn't it about time you did the forgiving?" In the end, Cloud moves on, and therefore, so do Zack and Aerith. Aerith and Zack walk into the light, Cloud plants flowers on Zacks grave, and lets Zacks buster sword rest in Aeriths church, now no longer rusting, but shining. Instead of the past being a negative reminder, Cloud lets the past be beautiful. Cloud was doing Aerith and Zack a disservice by remembering them the way he did, because it was ruining his life, it wasn't a good thing, but it did come from a good place, from a good man whose ashamed of not being good enough. Yes, it harmed Tifa, people going through these things often do hurt those around them, but it's not because they're bad people, or even weak, but because people are imperfect and Cloud has gone through hell, both internally, and externally. Are his actions really that weird or deplorable? "He didn't even go save the kids!" Yes, he's hesitant about saving the kids, why shouldn't he be? Everyone Cloud tried to protect or save, ended up maimed or worse, or as Cloud puts it: "I can't even save myself". "He left Tifa alone!" Yes, he thinks he's going to waste away and die, can you blame him for not wanting to put Tifa through that and for thinking she'd be better off without him? "He drinks!" Wouldn't you?! Who wouldn't want to forget that stuff? But in the end, He's only gone for about a week, he never intended to harm Tifa, he never physically harmed Tifa or cheated on her, his entire life revolved around wanting to be better for Tifa and blaming himself when he wasn't good enough, how is it reasonable to say this man takes Tifa for granted when the fact that he thinks he has to BE BETTER in order to be worthy of being with her has been a constant throughout his entire life and story? He DOESN'T take Tifa for granted, that's why he's beating himself up, that's why he leaves, not because he thinks he's better than her, or that he'll always have her, or that she'll follow him like a dog, or something like that. But because of the opposite, because he thinks HE is not good enough, that SHE would be better of without him. Saying Cloud takes Tifa for granted, is honestly, simply, wrong. It's 180 degrees the opposite of what is happening in FFVII, the biggest constant in Clouds life, is that he doesn't take Tifa for granted, and I don't understand how anyone could argue otherwise.

Oh those glasses ❤️❤️❤️

FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH (2024) ↳ Aerith x Sweet Gangster (⌐■ˬ■)❀°。

I love how Nibelheim is casually actually buckwild insane in terms of ecology. Harsh mountain landscape where almost no plantlife grows and the air is filled with radiation poisoning and 90% of the random encounters aren't even escaped lab experiments or mutated beasts they're just. Normal wolves except they're 300% stronger than the wolves from the game's starting area and also sometimes you turn the corner and there's. A dragon. Completely normal and unremarkable predator, the fire breathing dragon. Also the locals believe if you climb high enough up the mountain you can get to the land of the dead but why the fuck would you do that so everyone just goes about their lives like a short hike away from the literal afterlife. Truly no other town could have produced the likes of Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockheart.

Since forever and I hope I'll never change

Do you ever feel so detached from the world because you’re constantly living in the fictional/fantasy worlds in your head given that reality is just too boring, too limiting, and too uneventful????

Thank you for the tag!

Now I’m even more convinced that they were meant to be a pair. 

Before writing the post I checked a list of OG accessories to see if there was anything similar to the “Crescent Moon Charm”. I noticed the “Earrings” and the small moons inside them, however I didn’t mention them in my post because I’m convinced they have nothing to do with the “Charm”.

“Earrings” recur in other FF entries and they are always used to increase Magic. In the specific case of the original FFVII, the stat is MAGIC +10.

The “Earrings” accessories in FFVII Remake have the same use: “Earrings” boost Magic by 5%, “Platinum Earrings” by 10%. The design changed a little but they still include the shape of a moon and the curled metal pattern. 

The “Crescent Moon Charm” has a totally different use, it reduces damage taken when equipped by non-active characters. It has nothing to do with magic. And there was no other accessory in the OG with similar use. 

The charm was created after Tifa’s earring of the OG, with a new use and, yes, probably it was meant to play a role in the scene between Tifa and Marle. I really hope said deleted scene will be in the Intergrade. From the trailer it seems it’s going to fill that annoying hole between the scene where Tifa and Barret escape from the Reactor and the one where Tifa goes to Wall Market.

Naysayers should understand that coincidences don’t exist in fiction. Fiction tries to recreate reality, but it’s NOT reality. If something in fiction seems to be an odd coincidence then it’s not a coincidence at all. 

If designers spent time and energies to create a brand new charm, make it identical to Tifa’s earring, describe it in a way that refers to the concept of love and relate it with the idea of protection - that’s the leading theme of Cloud and Tifa’s arc - IT’S NOT CASUAL. 

It’s such a nice and meaningful detail!

It’s not a coincidence, they’re definitely from the same pair

(the Crescent Moon Charm earrings, that is)

It’s not new to #clotination that the Crescent Moon Charm from FFVIIR is the same as the earring from Tifa’s mature dress and her OG dress, and they’re likely from the same pair because it’s just too perfect to be a coincidence. See: this Tweet, this recent, highly-recommended Tumblr post by @skystarsflowers , and this shameless self-promotion reblog from last year with the OG concept art.

I’ve seen some naysayers try to wave it away by saying that because there are three Crescent Moon Charms in the game (Marle’s gift, Tifa’s outfit, and the Whack a Box prize), “it’s not like it’s meant to be an earring or something, it’s probably just a normal in-world item and it’s just a coincidence that Tifa decided to wear it as an earring.” Weak, I know.

However, the side by side comparison of the inventory image vs. Tifa’s earring helped me notice something: they are absolutely earrings and they absolutely make a perfect pair.

(Source: the aforementioned Tweet)

Continua a leggere

well-adjusted young man

A question about Kingdom Hearts, but can be for other stuff too. Do you think some important context or subtext is lost in the translation process from Japanese to a second language, even if it's translated to the best of a translator's ability, and if so, do you prefer a more literal translation over an official dub?

Hello! Thanks for the ask.

To answer the first question, there's different points to be made given the case by case nature of the topic. Important or simply interesting (these are not the same thing) information absolutely can be lost in the process of translation, but there's a lot of things fans need to understand:

Per discussion, is it actually lost, whether in the specific line or that of the overall context elsewhere?

Is the meaning actually *important* or imperative for understanding context [subtext]?

If lost, is it something that could've been localized creatively within the limitations of its presentation (voice acting/lip-sync, text space, etc.)?

Was it something that couldn't even be translated literally within the corresponding localized language? And/or did it not naturally flow into the writing of the actual scene itself for the given language?

Keep in mind that some interesting nuances built within a language system is really tailored for THAT language, and doesn't have to (or can't be) be transferred to another language smoothly in the production process of localization—if it's actually important, they might have to find a way, and chances are a literal translation may not even be enough to accomplish this. So to the second question—it isn't really “literal” vs localization for me, because whether one or both of these things can get the job done is circumstantial. Ultimately, what I care about most is whether what is written makes sense and can still be seen to retain what matters contextually (and sometimes, this means you can even get MORE or something more direct from a localization as opposed to “literal”). I’m using “ “ because really, you don’t want literal, for the majority of the text, it just doesn’t work that way as smoothly as people think. But I understand sometimes literal is actually “close to definition as possible” for people. (sometimes, indeed)

Anyway, if there is an issue with what's written, I know a "literal" translation doesn't always solve the inherent factors dependent upon the specific nature of the JPN language. The "literal" definition doesn't always fully capture how the Kanji is contextually used in the writing for another language. If I ever felt something was completely missed within a localization, my instinct is to first check the nature of the JPN and how it's written contextually to see how it fairs.

Of course, if it's information that isn't really based on the nature of the Kanji and how it's used, that it's something just being misunderstood in translation, then that isn't even a matter of whether it was literal or not—it was just wrong, and could've been right in any form if the text was understood (meaning, I'd take it literal or localized as long as the information is correct). In comparison to the amount of important storytelling text actually localized in video game projects, this doesn't nearly happen that often, though.

To look at Kingdom Hearts:

There have been many, many examples, especially between #1 and #2 discussed within fandom over the last 20 years. lol The majority is very miniscule and inconsequential (if even non-existent of a difference with proper understanding)—in KH3 I tend to think of some scenes between Sora and Kairi that has been discussed. @phoenix-downer has some excellent JPN/ENG comparisons of Sora and Kairi's Paopu Fruit and Light in the Darkness scenes (plus more) that serve some examples—Phoenix might be more readily able to remember some things over the years than I. There’s also this line from Xemnas about finding the Ancient Keybladers in KH3—this one can reasonably create a misunderstanding, but at the same time we don’t exactly have all the information at this point in time anyway.

One thing I do tend to think of is the scene between Aqua/Terra/Ven and the Disney Passes—where the term hogosha 保護者 (guardian, protector, patron, parent) is used in JPN, while in ENG it was written as "grown ups". There's a subtext here that has been missed by some ENG speakers. Similar to #4 (about literal translations), this is one of those cases where contextually speaking, the ENG went with what made sense for the scene and all factors corresponding to it, while still retaining something similar to the concept context-wise. As you can see based on the definition, the term hogosha is very flexible in use due to its span of multiple different words, but in its usage, it always has the connotation of something "parental". But, translating it as straight up "parent(s)" doesn't always work because of the nuances of the word. e.g. From FFXIII, Lightning is a hogosha to Serah, but this isn't to say that Lightning is literally her parent/mom—the contextual nature of hogosha tells more than this but with the same connotation. Sometimes it can be directly "parents/legal guardians", like how it's used to refer to what is essentially PTA school meetings (hogoshakai 保護者会). There's a reason why hogosha is distinct from just more direct words for parent (like oya 親 or ryoushin 両親).

This flexible nuance isn't readily and neatly packaged in a single word in ENG, however, and while, say, “guardian” [parental] can fit in some situations on its own, the connotation of parental isn’t so readily available like it is for hogosha alone. (A good example is this post I made) So, contextually there are other ways to capture it, and that may have to be with a non-literal translation. But, its meaning was missed by some ENG speaking fans, so when they hear "Aqua and Terra are like parents to Ven", they have no idea where that's coming from. Of course, some people were able to understand how this is carried contextually by the word "grown ups" and the situation of the Disney Passes—otherwise, some people completely missed that parental nuance, which would be significant of representing the relationship between Aqua/Terra to Ven.

Sometimes it isn't a localization issue, but a perception one.

With that being said, if in the case of other fandoms/series? It's all over the place. I've seen it all, between something being lost (important or just interesting [unimportant]), something being a mistranslation, or something being retained and people are honestly just trippin' because of misunderstanding things. Straight up. #4 (literal translation/context issues) happens a lot, in that case.

For example, recently I made this post and a follow up post about functionalities of JPN pronouns for (I, me) and the differences that lay there—there's also an extra layer I think I didn't include, which is that between using a specific pronoun in the form of hiragana/kanji/katakana, sometimes it's a stylistic choice as well. (Don't worry about this if you're confused lol). Point is, in this situation I also talked about how this was something that only applies for the JPN language and not necessarily others (especially ENG).

But again, a lot of this is case by case and we'd have to consider the #1-4 above, and for me, I know that to get the job done, it doesn't even have to be literal in order for this to happen.

As an extra note, fans REALLY need to understand localization, if even for SE specifically, to really talk about it efficiently. A lot don’t, and don’t care to. There is a sea of information to gather to form a perspective, and if they had this information, it’d change what they think about the “changes” a localization will make. One of the most blunt translators I can think of (Tom Slattery) gave this thought towards this very topic, and it’s just the tip of the iceberg. So I’ll leave it with this:

Vocal fans on the internet often complain about translators "changing" things in the English versions of games. This always amuses me, as we're very often working alongside the team to help name those things in the first place. For example, on Final Fantasy XIII, we were asked to help with the naming of the roles--Medic, Synergist, Ravager, and so on. We were intending to use different names in Japan and the US/EU from the start, and we (the English translators) brainstormed and proposed both sets. For the Japanese version, they needed English words that (A) sounded cool when rendered into Japanese, and (B) would be understood by non-English-speaking Japanese players, so we worked with the writers to come up with a set of consistent-sounding terms that met those criteria. For the localized version, our focus was on creating names that would have a more sci-fi feel to a native speaker's ear, and also abbreviate to three letters in a way that looked natural and made the short forms quickly and easily distinguishable from one another. We didn't "change" anything; we just generated two different sets of names for two different audiences.

Retroactive integration of the English translation into the Japanese version happens on projects quite often as well. For example, we were asked to come up with a translation for the names of the transporters in the Nautilus theme park. The Japanese name at the time was not something that really worked for us, so we went with "Nautilift." A few weeks later, that started popping up in the Japanese script. That kind of thing is always a huge compliment. It's a collaborative process. No one is going out stomping all over each other's work just for the heck of it.

lmao

Sephiroth print avaliable : https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/lukrevadraws/

FFVII AFFECTION MECHANICS LIST

Probably this article was better suited for Valentine's day but I'm not well known for my perfect timing... :)

I thought it could be useful to have a full list of the OG variables that affect the date mechanics, a description of the actual Remake mechanics and the differences between the two games all in one post.

I had initially planned to add here also the Wall Market dress mechanics but this post is long enough and the Remake dresses are just so amazing that they absolutely deserve their own post and my complete devotion💖

So...Let’s get to the list!  

OG AFFECTION POINTS

A reminder before reading:

Not all the optional choices of the game affect the scores.

Not all the optional choices that affect the score are mandatory.

Only four characters are associated to the affection mechanics and they start the game with different pre-set scores: Aerith 50, Tifa 30, Yuffie 10*, Barret 0. Aerith and Tifa are the most probable outcomes for the date.

The two main events influenced by the affection points are the Gold Saucer date and the scene under the Highwind. The charcter who has the highest score will spend a night with Cloud at the Gold Saucer; the dialogue between Cloud and Tifa before the final battle will be more explicitly romantic if Tifa has at least 50 points.

The characters are not in competition with each others, most of the choices affect the points of just one character at a time and sometimes they even affect uniformly more than a character. As a general rule, the points increase when Cloud tries to be a kind person and decrease when he's willfully mean.

The outcomes for the date and the HW scene can be different: it's not necessary to achieve Tifa's date to get the high affection HW scene, nor dating Aerith automatically triggers the low affection version. It is perfectly possible to get both Aerith's date and the high affection scene with Tifa.

MIDGAR:

1. On the train after the attack at the Reactor No. 1, when Jessie tells Cloud about the IDs:

Jessie: I know! Next time, I'll give you one I made myself.

"Thanks anyway" (No change)

"Looking forward to it" (-3 Tifa)

2. [Optional] At 7th Heaven, if Cloud bought Aerith's flower:

Tifa: But...A flower for me? Oh Cloud, you shouldn't have... - Cloud: No big.

"Give it to Tifa" (+5 Tifa)

"Give it to Marlene" (+5 Barret)

3. [Optional] If Cloud talks to Tifa when she's behind the bar:

Tifa: Sit down. How about......something to drink?

"I don't feel like it" (No change)

"Give me something hard" (+5 Tifa)

4. When Cloud tries to leave Seventh Heaven:

Tifa: So! You're really leaving !? You're just going to walk right out ignoring your childhood friend !? - Cloud: What......?

"How can you say that!" (+5 Tifa)

"...Sorry" (No change)

5. [Optional] The morning of the attack on the No. 5 Reactor:

Tifa: Good Morning! Cloud! Did you sleep well?

"Next to you, who wouldn't?" (+5 Tifa)

"Barret's snoring kept me up..." (+5 Barret)

6. On the way to the Reactor 5, getting through the train without being caught by the security system

Succeed (+5 Tifa, +5 Barret)

Fail (No change)

7. When Cloud is hanging after the explosion of the Airbuster in the Reactor 5:

Barret: Hey, you gonna be awright?

"(Be strong)" (+2 Barret)

"(I don't know if I can hold on)" (-3 Barret, +1 Tifa)

8. After falling in Aerith's church, when the girl is trying to run away from Reno:

Push a wrong barrel (-3 Aerith)

Tell her to fight the troopers (-1 Aerith)

Tell her to run (No change)

Tell her to run, but she has to fight (-1 Aerith)

Push the right barrel (+1 Aerith)

9. At Aerith's house, when Cloud says he wants to go back to Sector 7:

"No way!" (+1 Aerith)

Aerith: Is Tifa......a girl? - Cloud: Yeah. - Aerith: A girl...friend? - Cloud: Girlfriend?

"Yeah, that's right" (-5 Aerith)

10. When Cloud and Aerith are going to split up after getting to Sector 7 gate:

Cloud: Thanks. I guess this is goodbye. You gonna be all right going home? Aerith: Oh no! 'What ever will I do!?' ...isn't that what you want me to say?

"See her home." (No change)

"Go on to Sector 7" (+1 Aerith)

11a. [Wall Market option A] Talking to Aerith if Tifa is chosen as Don Corneo's bride

"You alright?" (+3 Aerith)

"We gotta help Tifa!" (-2 Aerith)

11b. [Wall Market option B] Talking to Tifa if Aerith is chosen as Don Corneo's bride

"You alright?" (-2 Tifa)

"We gotta help Aerith!" (+3 Tifa)

11c. [Optional] [Wall Market option C] If Cloud is chosen as Don Corneo's bride and acts hesitant

Don Corneo: You don't like me? There...there isn't someone else, is there?

No, only you (No change)

Yes, his name's Barret... (+5 Barret)

12. When Corneo throws the group in the sewer:

Talk to Aerith first (+3 Aerith)

Talk to Tifa first (+3 Tifa)

13. [Optional] After the plate fall, if Cloud talks to Marlene at Aerith's house:

Marlene: Guess what? Guess what? Aerith was asking me lots of questions. Like what kind of person Cloud is. I bet she likes you, Cloud!

"I don't know" (+3 Tifa, -3 Aerith)

"Let's hope so" (-3 Tifa, +3 Aerith)

14. At Shinra HQ, after meeting Red XIII and before fighting Sample H0512:

Cloud: We'll take care of that monster. Somebody take Aerith somewhere safe...

"Tifa, I'm countin' on you!" (-2 Tifa)

"Barret, take care of her!" (+2 Barret)

15. When party splits up to escape Shinra HQ:

Cloud: If all five of us go together, we'll be noticed. Let's break up in two groups.

Whoever is in the party gets a +2 boost

16. [Optional] Talking to Tifa in the jail (this option can be repeated indefinitely):

Tifa: Psst (Can we get out?)

"Leave it to me" (+1 Tifa)

"Kinda hard" (-1 Tifa)

17. In the jail, when Cloud thinks about the other party members:

I wonder how [Barret/Aerith/Red XIII] is doing

The first one gets a +3 boost (no change for Red XIII)

The second one gets a +1 boost (no change for Red XIII)

No change for the last one

18. After leaving Midgar:

Barret: ^#$^%......awright. Go Northeast to a town called Kalm. If something happens, we'll meet up there. 'Sides, we can't have 5 people strolling down the fields. It's too dangerous. Split us into 2 parties...

Whoever is chosen to join the party gets a +1 boost (no change for Red XIII)

KALM

19. After Cloud's flashback when Barret decides to leave the Inn:

Barret: Yo, Cloud! Let's get a move on!

"Right" (+1 Barret)

"Wait a sec" (Barret talks again) -> "Beautiful, just beautiful" (+3 Barret)

"Wait a sec" (Barret talks again) -> "Is that all?" (-1 Barret)

20. [Optional] If talking to the woman on the first floor of the house next to the Inn (the points change only if the characters are in the party. The dialogue can happen at any time before the GS dates):

Thanks to Mako energy, life's pretty darn convenient. Thanks to Shinra. Don't you think?

"Yeah, maybe" (-2 Barret, -1 Aerith, -1 Tifa, +1 Yuffie)

"You're full of it" (+2 Barret, +1 Aerith, +1 Tifa, -1 Yuffie)

21. [Optional] If talking to the woman on the second floor of the house next to the Inn (the points change only if the characters are in the party. The dialogue can happen at any time before the GS dates):

Mako energy's made things a lot more convenient......But seems like a lot of plants and animals have been disappearing at a rapid pace. I think the old life was better. Don't you think so?

"Yeah, maybe" (+2 Barret, +1 Aerith, +1 Tifa, -1 Yuffie)

"No way" (-2 Barret, -1 Aerith, -1 Tifa, +1 Yuffie)

FORT CONDOR

22. [Optional] If Cloud is the party leader and talks to the old guy (the choices affect everyone, even if the party hasn't recruited Yuffie yet):

It appears you have a problem with Shinra, too. After all, you climbed up here. Why not listen to what I have to say for a moment?

"I guess so" (+5 Barret, +3 Aerith, +3 Tifa, +2 Yuffie)

"Not interested" (-5 Barret, -3 Aerith, -3 Tifa, -1 Yuffie)

23. [Optional] After the old guy tells Cloud about his problem (the choices affect everyone, even if the party hasn't recruited Yuffie yet):

What do you think? You want to join us in our fight?

"All right" (+5 Barret, +3 Aerith, +3 Tifa, +2 Yuffie)

"Not interested" (-5 Barret, -3 Aerith, -3 Tifa, -1 Yuffie)

*MEETING YUFFIE

[Optional] The player can repeat the recruiting dialogue as many times as they want. Recruiting Yuffie on the first try will grant her 10 points, failing and repeating it will increase her points up to a max of 30 points (+2 for every correct answer).

CARGO SHIP

24. [Optional] Talking to Yuffie who asks for Tranquillizers for her motion sickness:

"Here, use this" (+4 Yuffie)

"Nope" (-2 Yuffie)

25. Talking to Aerith about the Highwind:

Aerith: That was REALLY something. Hey, do you think I could get on it?

"I'll take you someday" (+2 Aerith)

"I dunno..." (-2 Aerith)

26. Talking to Tifa about the war:

Tifa: ...But, you know what? I really hate this uniform. Uniforms, soldiers, war, I hate 'em all. They take away all the things and people you love... I wish they'd all disappear. Right, Cloud?

"Yeah..." (+2 Tifa)

"I don't know" (-2 Tifa)

GOLD SAUCER

27. After Barret leaves the group, Cloud can choose a partner. The choice will affect the score of the FIRST character he'll interact with. Only if the player declines Red XIII they'll still be able to affect one of the girls' score. If the player doesn't pick anybody, the character with the highest score will join him and the points won't be affected (Red XIII will join instead of Barret):

Go together (+3)

Don't go together (-2)

COREL PRISON

28. The character chosen to accompany Cloud and Barret to fight Dyne:

Cloud: So there it is, Barret. So I guess it'll be Barret, me, and......

(+10 Aerith, +3 Tifa, +2 Yuffie, no change Red XIII)

GONGAGA

29. [Optional] After meeting Zack's parents:

Cloud can talk to Tifa and/or Aerith (if they are in the party).

Ignore them (-3 Aerith / -3 Tifa)

Talk with Tifa (+1 Tifa)

Talk with Aerith -> "Poor guy" (+1 Aerith)

Talk with Aerith -> "(...jealous...envious...)" (+2 Aerith)

COSMO CANYON

30. [Optional] During the first visit the party splits up. If Barret was in the party Cloud can have a conversation with him:

Barret: There was this guy who studied 'Planetary Life' here. He couldn't take things the way they were, so he went to Midgar to form AVALANCHE. Wanna hear more?

Not really (no change)

"Go on" (additional dialogue) -> "And then" (Barret +6)

"Go on" (additional dialogue) -> "Yeah, whatever..." (Barret +3)

WUTAI

31. [Optional] Completing the first quest in Wutai until Yuffie returns the stolen Materia (Yuffie +10)

***

REMAKE AFFECTION POINTS

Even though the Remake covers just the Midgar section, the developers payed homage to the Gold Saucer dates including a beautiful "Resolution scene" at the beginning of Chapter 14, where Aerith, Tifa or Barret will appear and talk to Cloud.

What determines the optional cutscene this time is the number of side quests completed during Chapter 3 and Chapter 8, namely the two chapters spent building up Cloud's merc reputation with Tifa and with Aerith.

The Remake affection mechanics are very simple: 

Aerith and Tifa start as equals. 

The player can complete 6 Odd Jobs and 1 final Discovery Quest, each one granting to the related girl +2 points. 

The girl Cloud will interact first after landing in the sewers will gain an additional +1 point that will eventually serve as tiebreaker. 

As you can guess, the girl with the highest score will lead the optional cutscene but if both girls have less than 5 points then Barret's scene will be unlocked.

PERSONAL THOUGHTS:

The Remake affection mechanics are significantly different from those of the OG. Funnily enough some free-answer dialogues still exist, however not only they don't affect the score but they're also illusory choices as the plot is very linear (see below).

The Remake mechanics are less romance-based. Sure, accomplishing the side quests can be seen as Cloud spending valuable time with the girls, anyway they spend the day doing rough and mundane activities like defeat monsters, rescue kids and search for cats. The focus will always be to improve Cloud's reputation as a reliable merc. Moreover, it doesn’t really make sense to consider Barret as being positively impressed by Cloud refusing to help people in need. 

While in the original Cloud can have just one date and one of the two versions of the Highwind scene, the Resolution scenes are not mutually exclusive and it's perfectly possible that all of them take place during the same night.

***

OG AND REMAKE COMPARISON

Most of the situations linked to the affection points in the OG changed or were left out from the Remake. In general Remake-Cloud tends to be kind with both Aerith and Tifa and by the end of the game his relationship with Barret improves as well.