FelixSH
(He/Him)
Before doing anything else, I wanted to visit Wutai. Very soon, you get the scene where Yuffie tells us to prepare ourselves, as the monsters here are strong. So, I guess she wanted us to open the menu, like when we met her, so she could steal from us, while we weren't watching?
But Shinra soldiers appear just now, and she runs away. And, when the fight starts, we find ourselves without any Materia. It's not a hard fight, but really obnoxious, with soldiers that are able to put us to sleep, or blind us.
So, now we have to travel over the whole continent, from the South to the North. And Yuffie was right, the enemies here are powerful. It really shows us, how much we are dependent on our Materia - wihtout it, we aren't excactly helpless, but so much weaker than before. The game cheats a bit here, though. The birds here are just way more powerful, than any other encounter we had throughout the game. I ran into three of them after the sidequest, fully decked out, and still died miserably.
Still, the point stands. People on this planet need Shinra, to continue their lives in the comfort, this basically infinite power Mako offers. The power Shinra offers. The only way for us to fight against Shinra, and save the world, is to use the very thing we are fighting against. We are corrupting ourselves. It's an interesting comment of the game.
After traveling for some time (honestly, this part is the hardest in the whole game, and I only made it by running away from everything), we make it to the city Wutai. It is a really nice place, and looks pretty cool. Especially the mountain in the back, with the statues we run around on, looks amazing. Plus, there is a room full of cats, which is therefore the best room in the game.
What comes next, feels, again, more like an adventure game than an RPG. There is no fighting. We just look through the city, finding Yuffie again and again, just for her to avoid us one more time. Entering the weapon shop during that time is pretty funny, as there are weapons on display, and the clerks there tell us, that they don't have anything. They are very bad liars.
Also, we meet the Turks, who are on vacation here. Elena, as the newest member, is immediately motivated to fight us. But Reno and Rude just tell her to stop ruining their vacation. It is a nice scene, and interesting, how they really only see us as their job. Nothing personal.
At one point, we catch Yuffie, and she leads us to where she promises us, the Materia are. We even learn about her backstory. Basically, this city was once big and important. Interestingly, she talks about a time before her birth, so the relevance of Wutai declined, even before Shinra rose to power. Or, more likely, that was just something that happened over time. And now, after the war, Wutai is nothing more than a tourist spot. The emperor was once a powerful man, but only sleeps now. She wanted to collect a ton of Materia, so Wutai would have a chance against Shinra. Which, honestly, with that giant cannon at Yunon, that would never work.
It is a sad situation, but also, I'm still not sure what the war was actually about. Especially if Wutais role in the world was declining, anyway. And they are not about living as one with the planet, like the people at Cosmo Canyon are. They don't seem to have an actual problem with Mako. Was this just an ego thing for Shinra? That they had to defeat this important city, to make clear that they are the only ones that count? Was this a war over ressources? Doesn't look that way.
Honestly, I'm not sure if this is intentional, but the further we get away from Midgar, the less heavy Shinras presense is felt. Or, more precisely, the less horrifying it feels. Gongaga is a horrible sign of all that Shinra does wrong, but Cosmo Canyon is basically free from their influence - aside from the fact, that they will die with the rest of the planet. Rocket Towns problem is, that it's boring. Sure, Cid couldn't fulfil his dream, but elsewise the town doesn't seem to have been really traumatized. And, while Wutai has been beaten in a brutal war (which is awful, no question), their situation now seems more psychologically bad. But they don't seem to be under actual control of Shinra. Dunno, maybe I'm missing something here.
Also, Nibelheim throws a wrench into this idea, as it is between Cosmo Canyon and Rocket Town. Not perfect, but I like the idea.
Aside from that, we have now seen most cities on this world. And, I wonder how they governed themselves, before Shinra appeared. Like, maybe that is just a function of the technology not being far enough, to show us big, sprawling cities. But it seems, like this world only produced small towns, small enough, that a city council or something like that was all that was needed. Small enough, so that human rights were never an issue - if you live among your people, it gets way harder to be a jerk to them.
So, something like our Enlightenment was never necessary in this world. Which, when an entity like Shinra actually takes over, leads to a situation where people are treated horribly, but there isn't even an idea about how an actualy government should work. That it is responsible for its citizens.
Well, to get back to the game, it was just a trick of Yuffie. She tells us to to push one of two switches, and I'm pretty sure both lead to us being captured under a giant cage. It is easily reversible, but Yuffie is gone, again.
In the meantime, the Turks get orders to look for "someone", who was spotted here. Again, only Elena is interested, and despite the threat of the higher-ups learning about Renos and Rudes disinterest, they stay in the restaurant. Elena, though, goes. And is very soon, together with Yuffie, captured by Don Corneo. There is a fun bit later, when he wants to tell his sad story, about how Shinra was after him, after he talked to us - but Cloud doesn't care at all.
I really wonder how strong these ninjas are, that captured Elena and Yuffie. Yuffie has all our materia, so she should be plenty powerful. And Elena is a Turk. Even at the start, she should be a competent fighter. But, considering the reason of Don Corneo (getting a bride), this is basically just a case of "women suddenly have to be really weak and play a role as damsel in distress". I generally like, how this game portrays women, but this is a low point.
We do team up with the Turks, and together, we defeat Corneo. Who, thanks to Reno, falls to his death, which feels weirdly grim. It shouldn't feel that way. We killed a ton of soldiers throughout the game, and the Turks are paid killers. Dunno.
There is a nice bit at the end, where Reno gets a call to look for us, but, as a small thanks, he ignores it. Also, it's still their vacation.
Yuffie finally gives us back our Materia, but even Cloud comments on them being distributed completely wrong. It's another fun bit.
I do wonder, why Yuffie comes along afterwards. I guess she gave up on her plan, defeating Shinra the way she planned? Dunno, when we get here, it seems like the one and only reason for her, to follow us up to this point, was to steal from us. And she does so, not caring at all if we die. It feels a bit off.
That's all for now. A shorter post, I just wanted to talk about Wutai.
But Shinra soldiers appear just now, and she runs away. And, when the fight starts, we find ourselves without any Materia. It's not a hard fight, but really obnoxious, with soldiers that are able to put us to sleep, or blind us.
So, now we have to travel over the whole continent, from the South to the North. And Yuffie was right, the enemies here are powerful. It really shows us, how much we are dependent on our Materia - wihtout it, we aren't excactly helpless, but so much weaker than before. The game cheats a bit here, though. The birds here are just way more powerful, than any other encounter we had throughout the game. I ran into three of them after the sidequest, fully decked out, and still died miserably.
Still, the point stands. People on this planet need Shinra, to continue their lives in the comfort, this basically infinite power Mako offers. The power Shinra offers. The only way for us to fight against Shinra, and save the world, is to use the very thing we are fighting against. We are corrupting ourselves. It's an interesting comment of the game.
After traveling for some time (honestly, this part is the hardest in the whole game, and I only made it by running away from everything), we make it to the city Wutai. It is a really nice place, and looks pretty cool. Especially the mountain in the back, with the statues we run around on, looks amazing. Plus, there is a room full of cats, which is therefore the best room in the game.
What comes next, feels, again, more like an adventure game than an RPG. There is no fighting. We just look through the city, finding Yuffie again and again, just for her to avoid us one more time. Entering the weapon shop during that time is pretty funny, as there are weapons on display, and the clerks there tell us, that they don't have anything. They are very bad liars.
Also, we meet the Turks, who are on vacation here. Elena, as the newest member, is immediately motivated to fight us. But Reno and Rude just tell her to stop ruining their vacation. It is a nice scene, and interesting, how they really only see us as their job. Nothing personal.
At one point, we catch Yuffie, and she leads us to where she promises us, the Materia are. We even learn about her backstory. Basically, this city was once big and important. Interestingly, she talks about a time before her birth, so the relevance of Wutai declined, even before Shinra rose to power. Or, more likely, that was just something that happened over time. And now, after the war, Wutai is nothing more than a tourist spot. The emperor was once a powerful man, but only sleeps now. She wanted to collect a ton of Materia, so Wutai would have a chance against Shinra. Which, honestly, with that giant cannon at Yunon, that would never work.
It is a sad situation, but also, I'm still not sure what the war was actually about. Especially if Wutais role in the world was declining, anyway. And they are not about living as one with the planet, like the people at Cosmo Canyon are. They don't seem to have an actual problem with Mako. Was this just an ego thing for Shinra? That they had to defeat this important city, to make clear that they are the only ones that count? Was this a war over ressources? Doesn't look that way.
Honestly, I'm not sure if this is intentional, but the further we get away from Midgar, the less heavy Shinras presense is felt. Or, more precisely, the less horrifying it feels. Gongaga is a horrible sign of all that Shinra does wrong, but Cosmo Canyon is basically free from their influence - aside from the fact, that they will die with the rest of the planet. Rocket Towns problem is, that it's boring. Sure, Cid couldn't fulfil his dream, but elsewise the town doesn't seem to have been really traumatized. And, while Wutai has been beaten in a brutal war (which is awful, no question), their situation now seems more psychologically bad. But they don't seem to be under actual control of Shinra. Dunno, maybe I'm missing something here.
Also, Nibelheim throws a wrench into this idea, as it is between Cosmo Canyon and Rocket Town. Not perfect, but I like the idea.
Aside from that, we have now seen most cities on this world. And, I wonder how they governed themselves, before Shinra appeared. Like, maybe that is just a function of the technology not being far enough, to show us big, sprawling cities. But it seems, like this world only produced small towns, small enough, that a city council or something like that was all that was needed. Small enough, so that human rights were never an issue - if you live among your people, it gets way harder to be a jerk to them.
So, something like our Enlightenment was never necessary in this world. Which, when an entity like Shinra actually takes over, leads to a situation where people are treated horribly, but there isn't even an idea about how an actualy government should work. That it is responsible for its citizens.
Well, to get back to the game, it was just a trick of Yuffie. She tells us to to push one of two switches, and I'm pretty sure both lead to us being captured under a giant cage. It is easily reversible, but Yuffie is gone, again.
In the meantime, the Turks get orders to look for "someone", who was spotted here. Again, only Elena is interested, and despite the threat of the higher-ups learning about Renos and Rudes disinterest, they stay in the restaurant. Elena, though, goes. And is very soon, together with Yuffie, captured by Don Corneo. There is a fun bit later, when he wants to tell his sad story, about how Shinra was after him, after he talked to us - but Cloud doesn't care at all.
I really wonder how strong these ninjas are, that captured Elena and Yuffie. Yuffie has all our materia, so she should be plenty powerful. And Elena is a Turk. Even at the start, she should be a competent fighter. But, considering the reason of Don Corneo (getting a bride), this is basically just a case of "women suddenly have to be really weak and play a role as damsel in distress". I generally like, how this game portrays women, but this is a low point.
We do team up with the Turks, and together, we defeat Corneo. Who, thanks to Reno, falls to his death, which feels weirdly grim. It shouldn't feel that way. We killed a ton of soldiers throughout the game, and the Turks are paid killers. Dunno.
There is a nice bit at the end, where Reno gets a call to look for us, but, as a small thanks, he ignores it. Also, it's still their vacation.
Yuffie finally gives us back our Materia, but even Cloud comments on them being distributed completely wrong. It's another fun bit.
I do wonder, why Yuffie comes along afterwards. I guess she gave up on her plan, defeating Shinra the way she planned? Dunno, when we get here, it seems like the one and only reason for her, to follow us up to this point, was to steal from us. And she does so, not caring at all if we die. It feels a bit off.
That's all for now. A shorter post, I just wanted to talk about Wutai.