Nibelheim
-More messages come in from Luxiere and Kunsel. Luxiere has moved up in rank and wants to catch Zack to go lenient on him. Kunsel just wants to help.
I find myself wondering more and more about the follow-up game, “Dirge of Cerberus.” I have literally no idea what in the FFVII-verse it’s about. Turks? AVALANCHE? Hell, given that Crisis Core came out of nowhere to be an action game, maybe it’s a whole other genre like a flight simulator or card game or some damn thing.
Whatever it is, I both hope and doubt I’ll see more Kunsel. He seems like such a good dude. Friendly and caring and hopeful.
-Zack fights off some more infantry and begins the long walk back to Midgar.
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The Road to Midgar
-They stop at a field. I have to do some kind of sniper mini-game to evade detection on Zack.
-I keep shooting, but it doesn’t do anything. Yeah. Don’t get this game just yet…
-AHA! I can zoom and take out the head. Ok.
Sniperino.
-Good travel music btw.
-so bad at this game lol. I could just attack them in combat, but that’s super boring and easy. This is at least a bit of a challenge. [Later edit: I misunderstood this, and found later that I don’t have a choice here. The combat encounters seemed to be random and unrelated.]
-Not really sure what I’m supposed to be aiming for, and I’ve never played a first person shooter before other than a couple of Goldeneye matches with friends back when N64 was new.
-Looks like I could’ve shot the barrels to explode the mechs around them.
-Finished. “Enemy’s Uncollected Supplies: 0.” Wait, I was supposed to collect supplies? Uh. Ok lol. I’m sure I’m misunderstanding something and didn’t read as well as I could’ve.
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Shores
-Zack’s feeling pretty lost about now.
-HI CISSNEI MISSED U
-oh god. It just hit me. I didn’t meet Cissnei in FFVII, therefore something bad is likely to happen to her. Can it please just be “she was sent to do undercover work because she was too awesome” rather than “she died tragically for some reason”?
-He asks her to let him go.
-SHE SAYS NO!! HAHAH YES. I mean, maybe this is how she dies, but she’s going through with this on her own terms. She tosses her shuriken. I can’t believe I’m rooting against Zack, but GO CISSNEI!
-He blocks her shuriken. Walks away. Both of them are pretty heartbroken to be at odds like this. Cissnei clearly feels terrible to have to do this, but she’s got her duty.
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The Path
-Zack heads back to Cloud to regroup.
-CISSNEI FOLLOWED! She sees Cloud is not doing well.
She calls Tseng and decoys him. Damn. I was really hoping she wouldn’t let Zack go.
-You know what? I’ve taken a few minutes, reconsidered, and I’m okay with this. Cissnei’s making her own choice because it’s what she believes is right. There’s nothing more to suggest that she’s doing this to sacrifice herself for Zack or sacrifice her morals for love of him. She’s doing this as an expression of her values.
I’m ok with this. I notice I’m being super defensive of her having agency and character development, possibly to the point where I’m twisting my view of her beyond what’s in the game, but c’est la vie.
-She hands him a parting present before leaving. A set of keys.
VROOM VROOM
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Highway
-He heads down the highway in a motorcycle, with Cloud in a sidecar beside him.
-Genesis then swoops down with a couple of clones. Captures Zack.
-Oh no. Genesis has in mind torture beyond reckoning.
Cruel and unusual.
That’s right. LOVELESS quotes. Endless LOVELESS quotes. FOREVER.
-…….wtf. Ew.
-Genesis just told Zack that the recent tests gave Zack a modified version of Jenova’s power. To prove it, he had his clone EAT SOME OF ZACK’S HAIR WTF GAME. He wants to stop the degradation.
-OH SHITHDKLFHDJKLSF WHAAAT
-Genesis and the non-hair-eating clone flew away. The clone that ate the hair transformed into a really great looking flying beast, something not dissimilar from those JENOVA-XXX monsters we fought periodically through FFVII.
-Actually a pretty tough fight. He retaliates to every hit, so I have to hit, dodge, hit, dodge, repeat.
-They drive off…
-…and reach Zack’s hometown!
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Next time: Gongaga.
