Gotta hand it to Square Enix: they make games that last a long time. That's not always a good thing: I never finished Final Fantasy XVI because I ran out of steam trying to complete all the sidequests in the increasingly bleak and empty world of the game. But while FFVII Rebirth's side quests vary in quality, I've really been enjoying my trek across its world from the Grasslands to the Nibel region.
However, I've hit a point where I'm pretty sure I'm near the end of the game. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm near the end of the story - there's a whole third game (I assume only a third and not a fourth) in this reboot trilogy that I suspect I'll be in my 40s before I get to play (Rebirth came out four years after Remake).
At this stage, I have a single side-quest left, but it's a doozy - trying to get a bunch of high scores at the Gold Saucer. On top of that, I also have the conclusion of the game-spanning Protorelic questline, which I think is essentially this game's version of FFX's Omega Dungeon. It appears to involve facing off against two super-powered summons at a time - I tried fighting Bahamut and Titan and found myself... well, my ass got handed to me.
Plot stuff to follow:
The big surprise, of course, is the betrayal by Cait Sith. I'm sure we're going to discover that his intentions were benign, but at this stage in the game, he's left the party. Let's back up:
Following the conclusion of the Nibel region stuff involving Shinra Manor, the party heads to the Gold Saucer, where the owner, Dio, can hand over the stone key for the Temple of the Ancients. However, Dio's being challenged for ownership of the Saucer by Don Corneo, and Dio's not in fighting form, so he needs you to act as his champions.
Prior to that, though, you go on a date with the party member who's relationship you've deepened the most over the course of the game. I don't know what happens if you do every side quest and get every dialogue option right, but it seems fitting that I got Aerith.
And boy, the writing and the voice acting really makes you love her - and knowing her fate (which might be a little different given all the time-shenanigans) I'm just getting ready to get that twisting knife in the gut.
After participating in the "Loveless" performance, you go fight in the arena, facing off against a series of monsters before fighting Corneo riding on Abzu (that monster pet of his from the sewers in the first game) only to then fight Rude and Elena (though Dio insists you get to rest beforehand, which is merciful) and then you get a rematch against Rufus Shinra himself (once again, Cloud has to solo him).
But even after winning, the Turks steal the Keystone from you right after Dio hands it to you, and it's here that Cait Sith helps them take it. You pursue your own party member across the Golden Saucer, but Shinra gets away with the stone and the party leaves Cait Sith, feeling betrayed.
Now, I don't know if I have the details totally right, but I did notice that in a cutscene at the Shinra HQ, Reeve has a Cait Sith doll in his office. Reeve, of course, has been the incongruously conscience-possessing member of the Shinra board, and I've been wondering if he's actually the one controlling Cait Sith this whole time (Cait Sith is described as a robot, and in Nibelheim he's briefly unresponsive, as if the person controlling him was away from their interface).
Anyway, while Cait Sith has left the party, we do have Cid and Vincent Valentine traveling around with us, but still not in a controllable way. I'll be curious to see if they get to be helpful NPCs the way Red XIII was in Remake, or if they'll just sit the combat out entirely.
My roommate just finished Remake and is starting Rebirth, so it's kind of interesting to see him exploring the Grasslands, which feels like ages ago from my perspective.
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