It’s been known for quite some time now that Square Enix had little interest in shooting for a one for one replica when working on the Final Fantasy VII Remake. With the first part of what will end up being a series of titles focusing solely on Cloud’s time spent in Midgar, the Japanese publisher chose to add loads of new content and characters so that part one of the remake would end up being a complete game, rather than something more episodic. As such, parts of the original Fantasy Fantasy VII that were briefly skimmed over are now being poured over in great detail, which means that some of the game’s more subtle story beats are receiving more time in the spotlight.

Thanks to the recently leaked Final Fantasy VII Remake demo gameplay, we now know that Cloud, Barrett, and the rest of AVALANCHE were actually set up by Shinra after the team went to blow up a Mako Reactor. According to the folks at Prima Games, the bomb the team planted was meant to be a more manageable, controlled blast, though it appears that Shinra planned a larger explosion that would kill innocents in order to better condemn the team and turn the population against them. The relevant demo clip can be found below:

https://youtu.be/F3LJ1kESjIM

It actually gets mentioned in the original game that the explosion that rocked the reactor appeared to be larger than expected, and Square Enix appears to have taken the ball and ran with it in order to paint AVALANCHE in a slightly more favorable light. What this means for the rest of the game’s story is still unknown at this time, though if the end results remain chiefly the same then it will paint the fate of most of AVALANCHE’s members in a much more tragic light.

The Final Fantasy VII Remake is slated to release on March 3, 2020 for the PlayStation 4.

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