Final Fantasy VII: Overpowered Aeris, the Shinra Building, and Hojo.

More FF7 thoughts:

While I was working my way through Midgar I naturally unlocked Aeris's second Limit Break, Seal Evil. Healing Wind is, of course, a life saver, being one of the most reliable and powerful methods of healing early in the game. I remember dismissing Seal Evil by comparison, and likewise for most of Aeris's other limit breaks. They just didn't have the utility of Healing Wind, much less the direct damage effects of everyone else's directly offensive abilities.

Now, however, I realize that Aeris's limit breaks are probably some of the best in the game. They're incredibly diverse and powerful, starting with Seal Evil, which neutralizes magic-using enemies, and ending with Full Gospel, the game-breaking ability that completely heals everyone and makes the party invincible for a while. How awesome is that?

I'm keeping Aeris in my team in order to familiarize myself with those abilities, taking advantage of them while they're available. Of course, I don't want to guarantee that Ill be with her instead of Tifa, so I'm keeping them both in my party when I can.

The first few times I assaulted the Shinra Building I went for the quieter, side route as per Tifa's suggestion. However, I think rushing in through the front door is actually the funner experience. Either way you get some fun dialogue, but it's just a little more fun to terrorize the civilians in the lobby.


There's a guy in the Sector 5 slums who's clearly sick, can't talk, and has a number tattooed on him. He's acting exactly like Cloud does after Zack gets him out of the Nibelheim lab. How did he get there? None of the Jenova experiments are catatonic like that, and it feels like most of the experiments don't start showing up until after Jenova awakens and starts heading for the crater.

I think Cloud is the reason Jenova awakens in the Shinra Building. Clearly she wants to draw herself together, and I don't think it's coincidence that Jenova just happens to awaken while Cloud is assaulting the place. I think that the fact that Cloud contains some of her cells, combined with his proximity on the same floor as her for an extended period of time, allowed her to awaken and take the form of something that would strike terror into Shinra and, more importantly (?) attract Cloud.

In fact, I'm not entirely sure that everyone sees Jenova as Cloud does. When Cloud sees her, he sees Sephiroth, but in the conversation at Costa Del Sol, Hojo seems genuinely intrigued that this is what Cloud sees. From there, Hojo suspects that Cloud is following the calling in his own way.

Another interesting note about that exchange is that Hojo definitely seems to remember Cloud's name, but nobody else's, not even Aeris. However, he seems to remember the name of Aeris's mother clearly. I don't think Hojo is good with names--he needs to spend a decent amount of time with someone to become familiar with them. In yet another case of foreshadowing, it seems to me that Cloud has spent more time with Hojo than he remembers, though he doesn't recall ever meeting him in person before they assaulted the Shinra building. Hm...