[quote=@tex]
	I for one welcome the meta narrative. I just wish the spooky plot devices had better presentation. It still leaves a lot of potential for... Bad times ahead.
[/quote]

[hider=BIG BRAIN DUMB SPOILER IDEAS] So I love the idea that by defying fate that the heroes have basically played into Sephiroth's hand. I have a strong feeling that in the sequel we will see a lot of the same narrative bits as the OG FF7, but maybe in a different presentation. What I hope to see is more Sephiroth emotional manipulation of Cloud, and perhaps pushing him to "save" Aerith from her death. My theory is that if Aerith does not join with the lifestream, she cannot manipulate Holy to stop Meteor; meaning that Sephiroth wins. 

Aerith's death is one of those BIG spoilers in gaming history, but my hope is that the next game will play with the player's emotions as well as Cloud's, by making us [i]WANT[/i] to save her, defying the plot of the original game but also opening up for Seph's true victory. Adding in Zach being alive in another continuity also gives a chance for some moment where he may intervene in our timeline, and act against fate as well. How big of a gut punch would it be to be told that she [i]HAS[/i] to die to save the planet, and instead of the City of the Ancients sequence, we're surprised at another moment later on. Maybe even a moment of self-sacrifice from Aerith. 

A lot of people are angry because there is a plot divergence, and I understand folks wanting this to be a pure "retelling" of the OG story. But I've spent the better part of my teenage and adult years with all of this compilation of ff7 bullshit that is now ingrained into my brain and seeing more of that appear alongside the old stuff is really interesting. 

The next games could be incredible and a deep emotional story that deals with coping with loss that is out of our control, or it could be very contrived and dumb and kingdom heartsy. Only time will tell![/hider] 

I've watched waaay too much of Maximillian Dood's theories and was shocked to find his level 4 galaxy brain stuff synced up with my own ideas playing.