History YMMV / FinalFantasyVIIRemake

* ShipToShipCombat: Cloud, Tifa and Aerith back in 1997 formed what is one of, if not THE most iconic LoveTriangle in video game history (so much so that this wiki's main and YMMV articles for the original game had to be permanently locked as a result of frequent edit warring over the subject), so the situation was bound to be repeated here. However, the expanded characterization has created a few new developments unique to the remake.
** As explained in HoYay above, Aerith and Tifa have more screentime dedicated to their budding friendship, with some scenes that can easily be read with homoerotic subtext. This has made them a way bigger ship than they were in the original. Whether in exclusion of Cloud, [[OneTrueThreesome or including him]]. A positive side effect of this is that, while [=CloudXTifa=] and [=CloudXAerith=] fans do still oppose each other (his relationship with both girls individually is also expanded, after all, and the possibility of [[spoiler:Remake being an alternate timeline where Aerith has a chance of survival has also heated things up further]]), the heat seems to be nowhere near as intense as it used to be.
** Jessie also has a lot more screentime, which expands what was just some light flirting in the original (so light that some people missed it) into full-blown thirst for Cloud that makes even Aerith's teasing look like tame banter by comparison. Her front, decisive attitude towards pursuing Cloud romantically has made a lot of people warm up to and root for her instead, [[spoiler:even while fully aware of her tragic end.]]
** And of course, the ending suggests that [[spoiler:Zack is now alive in a new timeline, leading many fans who ship him and Aerith to join in on the frontlines of this particular shipping war. What's crazy is that Jessie is implied to have survived as well, meaning that, what was a LoveTriangle in the original can potentially scale up to a freaking [[LoveDodecahedron Love Pentagon]]!]]

** The fact that many characters now appear to have been SparedByAdaptation (including [[spoiler:Zack, AVALANCHE, and a larger number of Sector 7 citizens]]) has further deepened the divide, between supporters who are [[spoiler:happy for their survival, are interested in their roles in future games and hope they [[EarnYourHappyEnding get the happy outcome they didn’t had in the original game]]]] and detractors who believe [[spoiler:these characters surviving is contradictory to a CentralTheme from the original game, that being living with tragedy and [[WeAllDieSomeday accepting loss as a fact of life]]]]. A third camp contends that it is too early to tell if these characters are really SparedByAdaptation, either theorizing that the aforementioned characters were spared in an AlternateTimeline (which increasingly appears to be the case on [[spoiler: Zack's part]]) but still died in the main timeline or that they are all dead anyways and are trapped moreso in a limbo between the real world and the Lifestream, unable to truly pass on due to Mako contamination.

** The fact that many characters now appear to have been SparedByAdaptation (including [[spoiler:Zack, AVALANCHE, and the Sector 7 citizens]]) has further deepened the divide, between supporters who are [[spoiler:happy for their survival, are interested in their roles in future games and hope they [[EarnYourHappyEnding get the happy outcome they didn’t had in the original game]]]] and detractors who believe [[spoiler:these characters surviving is contradictory to a CentralTheme from the original game, that being living with tragedy and [[WeAllDieSomeday accepting loss as a fact of life]]]].
** This has also led to debates surrounding [[spoiler:Aerith's ultimate fate and whether her surviving would mean the potential for an interesting story or if it would cheapen the themes of the original game. Detractors argue that Aerith's death--even being as well-known as it is--is too integral to the plot and themes of [=FFVII=] and that preventing it would retroactively invalidate the original game's message about the permanence of death--[[https://kotaku.com/is-squall-really-dead-final-fantasy-producer-addresses-1800007113 as stated by Yoshinori Kitase]]. At most, they concede that players should only be given the opportunity to ''delay'' when her death happens, but not prevent it altogether (even those who are on board with the StealthSequel theory, a more optimistic narrative or other deaths being prevented)]]. On the other hand, supporters of Aerith surviving argue that her death has become [[ItWasHisSled so well-known]] that it no longer has the same impact and that similar themes can be reinforced if someone else dies or vanishes in her place. Alternatively, they argue that, assuming the ''Remake'' trilogy is a StealthSequel, Aerith deserves a chance at a happy ending with either Cloud or an alternate timeline spared Zack after having to die in a previous timeline. They also point out that the other narrative purpose behind her death was always to show how sudden, unexpected and unnecessary it was--just like how death often can be in real life--as described by [[WordOfGod Hironobu Sakaguchi]], and that, assuming there's an AlternateTimeline or AlternateUniverse in play, the permanence of death does not necessitate forcing characters to stick to the same predestined fate across all realities.

** [[spoiler: Zack's potential survival in his last stand has led to multiple theories explaining just what his survival entails. The most popular theories were that he was spared in an alternate timeline, dubbed the "Terrier timeline" that could potentially interact with the timeline Cloud and co. are on, which is dubbed the "Beagle" timeline. Another popular theory is that the defeat of the Whispers caused Cloud and his party to cross over to the Terrier timeline, and all future Remake trilogy games will be set in said timeline. A less popular theory, primarily tied to elements of the western fandom that believes the Remake trilogy to not be a StealthSequel, states that Zack is actually DeadAllAlong, and that his spirit is in a limbo trapped between the world of the living and the Lifestream, and that the framing of his supposed survival and "multiple timelines" is used to goad the player into thinking that they could save Zack and Aerith, only to rip out that hope at the last second when it comes for Aerith to die, making it clear that Remake will ultimately continue to follow the flow of the original game and the Compilation.]]
** A popular theory among Japanese fans regarding the ending is that [[spoiler: The events of FFVII has happened multiple times in the past in an [[StableTimeLoop infinite time loop]], with the party's efforts in the loop which Remake takes place in either setting in motion a new time loop or breaking the cycle completly.]]

** [[spoiler: Zack's potential survival in his last stand has led to multiple theories explaining just what his survival entails. The most popular theories were that he was spared in an alternate timeline, dubbed the "Terrier timeline" that could potentially interact with the timeline Cloud and co. are on, which is dubbed the "Beagle" timeline. Another popular theory is that the defeat of the Whispers caused Cloud and his party to cross over to the Terrier timeline, and all future Remake trilogy games will be set in said timeline. A less popular theory, primarily tied to the western fandom, posits that the Remake trilogy is not a StealthSequel and thereby WordOfGod claims regarding "no further storyline changes" to be legitimate over multiple cases of LyingCreator states that Zack is actually dead, and that his spirit is in a limbo trapped between the world of the living and the Lifestream, and that the framing of his supposed survival and "multiple timelines" is used to goad the player into thinking that they could save Zack and Aerith, only to rip out that hope at the last second when it comes for Aerith to die, making it clear that Remake will ultimately continue to follow the flow of the original game and the Compilation.]]

** The game's ending theme ''Hollow'', while agreed by most players to be sung by a guilt-ridden Cloud, has been subject to multiple interpretations as to what it is about. Those that ship him with Aerith and/or view Remake as a StealthSequel exclusively see it as about Advent Children-era Cloud's guilt of not saving Aerith in the original timeline, while those that view Remake as ultimately still following the flow of the original game despite it's changes and/or ship Cloud with someone else, tend to interpret it as being Cloud's guilt about Zack, guilt about both Zack and Aerith, or about his supressed true self.

** Whether ''Remake'' in general loses a lot of the interesting subtlety, pacing and tone-building in the original, like [[spoiler:the characters getting several glimpses of future events from the original (i.e., Aerith's death, Meteor falling, the battle with Sephiroth at the Northen Crater), Hojo nearly revealing to Cloud that he wasn't in SOLDIER or Sephiroth appearing much earlier than in the original game and openly stating a lot of his intentions]]. Supporters say that most of the original game's twists and plot points are well-known, and that these changes allow for deeper characterization, and if ''Remake'' and its' sequels are meant to be a StealthSequel to the original game and the Compilation, then justified by the events having already happened in the past in an earlier timeline. Detractors believe that this bombastic and unsubtle approach lessens the overall impact of the story not unlike the ''Compilation''.

** Whether ''Remake'' in general loses a lot of the interesting subtlety, pacing and tone-building in the original, like [[spoiler:the characters getting several glimpses of future events from the original (i.e., Aerith's death, Meteor falling, the battle with Sephiroth at the Northen Crater), Hojo nearly revealing to Cloud that he wasn't in SOLDIER or Sephiroth appearing much earlier than in the original game and openly stating a lot of his intentions]]. Supporters say that most of the original game's twists and plot points are well-known, and that these changes allow for deeper characterization. Detractors believe that this bombastic and unsubtle approach lessens the overall impact of the story not unlike the ''Compilation''.

** This has also led to debates surrounding [[spoiler:Aerith's ultimate fate and whether her surviving would mean the potential for an interesting story or if it would cheapen the themes of the original game. Detractors argue that Aerith's death--even being as well-known as it is--is too integral to the plot and themes of [=FFVII=] and that preventing it would retroactively invalidate the original game's message about the permanence of death--[[https://kotaku.com/is-squall-really-dead-final-fantasy-producer-addresses-1800007113 as stated by Yoshinori Kitase]]. At most, they concede that players should only be given the opportunity to ''delay'' when her death happens, but not prevent it altogether (even those who are on board with a more optimistic narrative or other deaths being prevented)]]. On the other hand, supporters of Aerith surviving argue that her death has become [[ItWasHisSled so well-known]] that it no longer has the same impact and that similar themes can be reinforced if someone else dies or vanishes in her place. Alternatively, they argue that, assuming the ''Remake'' trilogy is a StealthSequel, Aerith deserves a chance at a happy ending with either Cloud or an alternate timeline spared Zack after having to die in a previous timeline. They also point out that the other narrative purpose behind her death was always to show how sudden, unexpected and unnecessary it was--just like how death often can be in real life--as described by [[WordOfGod Hironobu Sakaguchi]], and that, assuming there's an AlternateTimeline or AlternateUniverse in play, the permanence of death does not necessitate forcing characters to stick to the same predestined fate across all realities.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: Despite Being T-rated like the original, the game really pushes the envelope with its content, both in terms of language and the entire Wall Market section has been made even more sexual then the original. Some were surprised these parts of the game didn't give it an M rating at all. Many believe that the [[BloodlessCarnage total lack of blood & gore]] and the lack of any actual [[PrecisionFStrike F-bombs]] (despite plenty of other profanities in the dialogue script) are the strongest reasons why the game gets away with a T-rating in spite of all the other parts that would imply otherwise; it's telling that some of the more violent sections of the original game (most notably the blood-soaked trail of Sephiroth's total massacre of nearly everyone in Shinra HQ) is heavily toned down or outright omitted (in the ''Remake'', the trail is not red human blood but is rather [[AlienBlood Jenova's pulsating purple fluid]].
** The BloodlessCarnage aspect was completely averted in the [=InterMISSION=] update, with [[spoiler:the death of Sonon following the final boss battle spraying Yuffie's face with his blood]].

** The [[spoiler:Gotterdammerung]]. You enter battle with a full Limit gauge and said gauge regenerates meaning you can use it multiple times on the harder bosses. The only catch is that in order to get it, you have to beat some of the toughest bosses in the game in a series of battles on Hard Mode, and if you're able to beat them, then there's not much you really need for anyway, though it can be helpful with the final battles on Hard Mode. It's so overpowered that when a secret BonusBoss was added for ''Intergrade'', the item's effect is reduced by 50% (though the tooltip mentions it's disabled entirely).
** What's even more broken than one [[spoiler:Gotterdammerung]]? How about ''three''? All you have to do is beat the aforementioned BonusBoss added in ''Intergrade'' and another two are yours for the taking. Have fun!

** The Enemy Skill Materia is an inherently fun concept, letting you learn some unique abilities from enemies while it's equipped. Too bad there are only ''four'' abilities available to learn as of Part 1, one of which is the utterly useless [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Self-Destruct]] skill. The most powerful and flexible Enemy Skill, Bad Breath, can only be obtained from a hard mode-exclusive BonusBoss.

* His appearance in ''Opera Omnia'' also helped matters for some, as Weiss's personality is much more developed here than in ''Dirge of Cerberus''. Fans much more appreciated his character after this.

* EvilIsSexy:

** Scarlet is [[TheVamp vampish]] LadyInRed with a {{Dominatrix}} air about her. The scene of her using a henchman as an ottoman got ''a lot'' of attention.

** The cutscene of Scarlet in the Shinra HQ after reaching the 59th floor, where she's overseeing some scientists conducting experiments on Materia and is excited (almost even ''aroused'') by it, but when the experiment goes south she gets upset and leaves, the room exploding behind her. The cutscene seems intended as an EstablishingCharacterMoment for her, but she already had one earlier in the game when she was seen on the news at the Sector 5 reactor. Otherwise this scene comes out of nowhere and has nothing to do with the story.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Jessie started off as very popular with her detailed background, her flirty personality and a possible love option for Cloud. The fact that she was added to Dissidia Opera Omnia is an illustration of it. However, there are fans who find her annoying with her sassy attitude who might not be even serious about her feelings to Cloud. Some may argue that Jessie overstayed her welcome, seeing as Cloud already has two potential love interests, Tifa and Aerith. And the fact [[spoiler:she could have potentially survived her canonical death from the original game has left some fans who want the classic game, feeling dissatisfied.]]

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Jessie started off as very popular with her detailed background, her flirty personality and a possible love option for Cloud. The fact that she was added to Dissidia Opera Omnia is an illustration of it. However, there are fans who find her annoying with her sassy attitude who might not be even serious to Cloud.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Jessie started off as very popular with her detailed background, her thirsty personality and a possible love option for Cloud. The fact that she was added to Dissidia Opera Omnia is an illustration of it. However, after the controversy through a fan harassing Nojima over making Jessie and Cloud official, other people started to outright dislike her. Apart from this, there are fans who find her annoying with her thirst and others think she is a bad friend to Tifa while not being even serious to Cloud. Then there is her part in Tifa's chapter in the novel where she uses Tifa's grief over her decimated village to join Avalanche's cause and abandon her outright after this. Due to this, some fans hope she never returns and stays dead.

** Chapter 18 as a whole along with its [[spoiler:meta commentary on the concept of remakes with the Whispers, the major deviation from the original game's plot as compared to previous chapters and [[TheEndingChangesEverything the ending itself]] revealing that the series is actually a StealthSequel]]. Supporters are glad that [[spoiler:Remake is becoming its own thing and resolving issues which they might have had with the original game, find the [[MetaFiction meta commentary]] to be a clever and interesting concept, and consider the battle against the Whisper Harbinger and Sephiroth an epic way to end Part 1. They also argue that the [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII the original game]] is still there for those who want a faithful retelling of the story]]. Detractors [[spoiler:believe that Square Enix promoting the first installment as a remake and delivering something else entirely at the end is a case of NeverTrustATrailer, that the [[SerialEscalation escalation of the threat was far too abrupt and early]] (going from Shinra's military to a godlike physical manifestation of destiny), that the meta commentary feels shoehorned and [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall immersion-breaking]], turning the characters into mere conduits for it, that the heroes lack a sufficient motivation to defy destiny, the Whispers' addition feeling unnecessary, inconsistent and reminiscent of [[Franchise/KingdomHearts the Heartless]], and having the heroes defeat the Whisper Harbinger and going toe-to-toe with Sephiroth this soon nullifies any future threats they might face]]. Another group of fans who liked the changes, or at least are fine with them, feel the game may have shown its hand too early and are left wondering [[spoiler:how future installments can possibly top the finale of the first part wherein the characters destroy a physical manifestation of fate and even get an epic showdown with Sephiroth (complete with the iconic "One-Winged Angel" theme), during which a mirror-universe version of Midgar is blown up by the scale of the fight]].

** Chapter 18 as a whole along with its [[spoiler:meta commentary on the concept of remakes with the Whispers, the massive deviation from the original game's plot as compared to the previous chapters and [[TheEndingChangesEverything the ending itself]] revealing that the series is actually a StealthSequel]]. Supporters are glad that [[spoiler:Remake is becoming its own thing and resolving issues which they might have had with the original game, find the [[MetaFiction meta commentary]] to be a clever and interesting concept, and consider the battle against the Whisper Harbinger and Sephiroth an epic way to end Part 1. They also argue that the [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII the original game]] is still there for those who want a faithful retelling of the story]]. Detractors [[spoiler:believe that Square Enix promising a remake and delivering something else entirely is a particularly awful case of NeverTrustATrailer and VeryFalseAdvertising, that the [[SerialEscalation escalation of the threat was far too abrupt and early]] (going from Shinra's military to a godlike physical manifestation of destiny), that the meta commentary feels shoehorned and [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall immersion-breaking]], turning the characters into mere conduits for it, that the heroes lack a sufficient motivation to defy destiny, the Whispers' addition feeling unnecessary, inconsistent and reminiscent of [[Franchise/KingdomHearts the Heartless]], and having the heroes defeat the Whisper Harbinger and going toe-to-toe with Sephiroth this soon nullifies any future threats they might face]]. Even some fans who liked the changes, or at least are fine with them, feel the game may have shown its hand too early and are left wondering [[spoiler:how future installments can possibly top the finale of the first part wherein the characters destroy a physical manifestation of fate and even get an epic showdown with Sephiroth (complete with the iconic "One-Winged Angel" theme), during which a mirror-universe version of Midgar is blown up by the scale of the fight.]]

** Chapter 18 as a whole along with its [[spoiler:meta commentary on the concept of remakes with the Whispers, the massive deviation from the original game's plot as compared to the previous chapters and [[TheEndingChangesEverything the ending itself]] revealing that the series is actually a StealthSequel]]. Supporters are glad that [[spoiler:Remake is becoming its own thing and resolving issues which they might have had with the original game, find the [[MetaFiction meta commentary]] to be a clever and interesting concept, and consider the battle against the Whisper Harbinger and Sephiroth an epic way to end Part 1. They also argue that the [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII the original game]] is still there for those who want a faithful retelling of the story]]. Detractors [[spoiler:believe the [[SerialEscalation escalation of the threat was far too abrupt and early]] (going from Shinra's military to a godlike physical manifestation of destiny), that the meta commentary feels shoehorned and [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall immersion-breaking]], turning the characters into mere conduits for it, that the heroes lack a sufficient motivation to defy destiny, the Whispers' addition feeling unnecessary, inconsistent and reminiscent of [[Franchise/KingdomHearts the Heartless]], and having the heroes defeat the Whisper Harbinger and going toe-to-toe with Sephiroth this soon nullifies any future threats they might face]]. Even some fans who liked the changes, or at least are fine with them, feel the game may have shown its hand too early and are left wondering [[spoiler:how future installments can possibly top the finale of the first part wherein the characters destroy a physical manifestation of fate and even get an epic showdown with Sephiroth (complete with the iconic "One-Winged Angel" theme), during which a mirror-universe version of Midgar is blown up by the scale of the fight.]]

* HarsherInHindsight:
** Jessie's expanded characterization in just the demo [[spoiler:made a lot of players vocalize their wish for her to be SparedByTheAdaptation. In the final version, we see Biggs survive, with no confirmation on Wedge and Jessie's statuses, but the broader twist in the story that led to their survival has proven to be incredibly controversial among fans.]]

** Sephiroth of course. Rufus Shinra, Tseng, Reno and Rude also count.
** In ''Intergrade'', there is Weiss the Immaculate for some.

* AntiClimaxBoss: Despite being the last boss fought during the final BossRush against the VR summons, Pride and Joy Prototype is rather pathetic compared to the bosses fought before it especially against Bahamut as it's rather slow and predictable as well as being weak to Thunder like other machines not to mention that unlike Leviathan or Bahamut, it lacks any TotalPartyKill nukes with the most dangerous attack involves grabbing a party member and instantly knocking them out, something that is easily mitigated using the Raise magic. Hell, it's even possible to stunlock it by constantly destroying its legs over and over and watch it squirm as the robot is unable to spend more than a few seconds before its leg respawns.

** Wedge is sweet as a lollipop, but also socially awkward, particularly while interacting with the more cool-headed Cloud.

** This has also led to debates surrounding [[spoiler:Aerith's ultimate fate and whether her surviving would mean the potential for an interesting story or if it would cheapen the themes of the original game. Detractors argue that Aerith's death--even being as well-known as it is--is too integral to the plot and themes of [=FFVII=] and that preventing it would not only retroactively invalidate the original game's message about the permanence of death--[[https://kotaku.com/is-squall-really-dead-final-fantasy-producer-addresses-1800007113 as stated by Yoshinori Kitase]] but also would be one of the most blatant PanderingToTheBase in the franchise. At most, they concede that players should only be given the opportunity to ''delay'' when her death happens, but not prevent it altogether (even those who are on board with a more optimistic narrative or other deaths being prevented)]]. On the other hand, supporters of Aerith surviving argue that her death has become [[ItWasHisSled so well-known]] that it no longer has the same impact and that similar themes can be reinforced if someone else dies or vanishes in her place. Alternatively, they argue that, assuming the ''Remake'' trilogy is a StealthSequel, Aerith deserves a chance at a happy ending with either Cloud or an alternate timeline spared Zack after having to die in a previous timeline. They also point out that the other narrative purpose behind her death was always to show how sudden, unexpected and unnecessary it was--just like how death often can be in real life--as described by [[WordOfGod Hironobu Sakaguchi]], and that, assuming there's an AlternateTimeline or AlternateUniverse in play, the permanence of death does not necessitate forcing characters to stick to the same predestined fate across all realities.