*** Massive spoilers ahead for Remake and Rebirth***

I finished this game a few weeks back, took me a while as I had to take a break in the middle it was so exhausting yet I settled on a 9/10 after all was said and done, a phenomenal game and an improvement over remake. However...

The many world's theory and the quantum suicide aspects of the story are so shite, they clearly don't know what they are doing with that and the 3rd titles script was finalised after Rebirths release, yes they could have an outline but I believe they have confused themselves. The most glaring flaw is that what differentiates the world lines is the stamp dog character being different. This is to mark the world's for the gamer but it's ruined the whole point, the only thing that split the timelines was the artistic choice of the artists who created the Stamp Dog cartoon. N9thig else changed aside from one world that has a rip in the sky. You're telling me that Aerith can exist in these very specific timelines... it's so silly. 

And then there is the method of crossing between worlds, Zack and Biggs travel through quantum suicide but that's not how the concept works, they'd be in a new branch of reality where they are in the same situation but the bullets missed Zack and Biggs was somehow protected from the explosion. Instead they seem to teleport and to that matter how the he'll is Cloud crossing back and over and don't say Mako chase he's a SOLDIER cause biggs was not. 

I have been thinking about this for weeks and there is no way they can tie these story threads up in any satisfying way or give reasonable closer and they definitely do not have a plan. There is two things they can do, go full Kojima and provide enough silly answers to enough questions and make it feel campy as all hell but with the serious story vibe they are going for in the big story beats I don't think they will make it feel this way, go so whacky and surreal that it feels down to earth and believable even when it has loose ends. The other thing they can do is pull back and align thing more closer to FF7 and forget about the many worlds stuff, just brush it aside and forget they ever went in that direction, explain it all away with Mako poisoning. If they pull of what they've done in a cohesive way I'll eat my own arsehole chocolate. 

Rant end. How do you feel about the FF7 R story situation? I wanna reiterate that the reason for the branching world lines of the specific parallel worlds being created here is the stamp dogs design so Zack choosing to be saviour for Aerith or Cloud is not a branching path or many of them would have happened between the stamp dog and that choice. Making that choice is also ridiculously stupid as it telports him to another parallel universe where the stamp dog is different and that's just... ugh, beyond broken. That choice being the example that they do not know whatsoever what they are doing and perhaps don't understand the ideas they are playing with on a basic level or were so desperate for a way to convey it visually that the settled for dog shit. 

I just want to let people know thst they had to release a FAQ concerning this aspect of the story following the games release, people were so confused and stomped by so many questions. When I find it I'll post it here.

The changes are nonsense yes. I also went back and compared the OG's narrative at this point and Sephiroph was way more coherent in why black material was important and actually explains that when the earth is done massive damage, it will draw in immense amounts of energy which he will take advantage of. In Rebirth he waffles on for ages and it's unsatisfyingly cryptic.

I honestly haven't processed much about the branching timelines so I can't respond specifically to your sentiment, I just think they made the story worse and more convoluted.

Yea the problem is made the baffling choice of giving the director of Kingdom Hearts, which is known for convoluted stories, free reign with remaking possibly Square's best story ever and the results were as predictable as they come: not terrible, but very needlessly jumbled and logically flawed. It's a huge shame because the games are so incredible otherwise and the characters are actually made even better than the original, it's just the overall story where they had to go and reroll the dice when it was already a natural 20.

Would be the worst plot point by far. You just told 5 millions gamers that part 1 and 2 don't matter. So far, there is nothing about FF7 Remake series narrative that cannot be cleanly closed

They all ready have fucked it though and clealry don't have a vision that makes sense. It doesn't take a genius to see that you can't predestiny (The whispers) while exploring concepts of Quantum physics and potentially, anyone with a lay mans knowledge of these things can see and there is a long list of inconsistency and plot points that go against other plot points. Not to mention how all this is so poorly conveyed they had to put out a FAQ of which those answers should have been addressed in game, to the player, make it mysterious as all hell but do a Kojima and explain it all first to know what we are in for and ground us in the world...  why wouldn't they do this, I wonder? Cause they have no clear plan. Aeriths death might well have been set aside simply to keep this nonsense going, this isn't time travel, it's should be an easy realisation, if Disney can do it in a franchise spanning dozens of different media in the same universe. It should be conveyed this poorly. 

The whole thing is worse than Nolan trying to convey a fourth spacial dimension on screen in Interstellar, it's like they have a slight grasp of what they intend but they just can't make the puzzle pieces fit. We'll know in 2028 or so but I'm almost completely sure they don't know what they are doing even if they have a rough outline the details are countering each other, the script wasn't finalised until after Rebirths release too. I bet my hat that they will fuck this up more than they already have done. 

On a side note the third probably won't be the last game, SE will most likely wanna franchise FF7 remakes now and this will greatly effect the conclusion just as much as the deus ex machina devices and very likely it will get the anticlimactic AC3 ending. 

I'm loving it.

I love the concept of multiverse/multiple timelines.

The games arent even remakes, they are sequels - so there should be no expectation that the games should follow the same path as the original especially with the existence of ports of the OG on all platforms and Ever Crisis.

Edit: Highly recommend people to play OG FF7 before Remake and Rebirth at the very least. Also watch Advent Children the movie as well.

I dont mind it at all. Yes, its somewhat iffy in parts, but at this point theres many ways they can wrap it up in a satisfying way.

This. As a sequel for me im loving it, and i love the direction they went instead of just making a remake. the original game is there for anyone to play it ported to multi systems. Heck on pc you can get the remake you wanted of the original game with mods. But this game is a sequel and i see lots of ways they can end this chapter happy and continue with it if they also want. The FF7 world is massive and imo along with ff6 are the best worlds SE has made so i dont mind if they want to milk them.

The only thing that really bothered me was the climax. In the original, the iconic death scene is clear as crystal and brutal. It's pretty mangled in Rebirth.