Okay I know Final Fantasy(AC) has this realistic elements,I'm not doubting that it's a survival theme either! Though even if Sephiroth is a super human or Jenova's superior,he was beaten at some point with Cloud.So was he dead or not?If he was dead,and is now making a comeback, I mean think about it, it's not a reality joint. It's very supernatural.

And Rufus?They couldv'e found his body.

AC is doing good at it's realm structure with the characters,atmosphere,activities,persona,and the theme of it.

The only thing that bothers me is Final Fantasy being real????

Well, darn it, I'll reply. :P Within the bounds of Fantasy, Final Fantasy VII is following the reality it set up for itself rather darn well. :) Now, in real life there are no aliens who migrate from planet to planet to settle them (Cetra), nor are there evil aliens who chase said migrating aliens from planet to planet (Jenova), nor are there superhuman people called SOLDIER who are infused with a substance called makou... I won't try your patience any longer, but you probably catch my drift. Basically, Final Fantasy VII and AC are both going to have a lot of fantastical elements in them. That's the point of fantasy. It'd be really boring if it was set in modern America with a nasty US government to fight off. Sephiroth, the head general of the US army... Uh, right. That would suck. :)

So obviously, we, as players, have to suspend reality a little bit in order to have a more fun and entertaining story. So yeah, Sephiroth gets to be pumped with Jenova cells and be a superhuman villain who just won't die. (Seymour, anyone?) I think AC is going to try to stay as realistic as possible. Why? Because it's a film, not a game. You can't get away with things in film that you can get away with in games. An Aerith resurrection, for example, would be beautiful in a game. (Like Tidus in FFX-2.) But in a film, it's trickier, because you have less time to set it up properly and logically.

Sephiroth had to come back; come on, Final Fantasy VII without him would be sad. You have to have the villain. I'm not too happy about ol' Rufus; his death seemed rather official. He did receive a direct hit, and they couldn't reach him. It seems like SE just played with it a little because they wanted a reason to bring Reno and Rude back into the mix. (And of course, Reno and Rude have a huge fan following.) So there are going to be some elements that aren't very realistic. But I like the way SE's handling it so far; the Aerith dream sequences will be lovely. :) I hope there are many of them, and that he thinks of her often. And I'm hoping for a huge ending sequence where she helps him defeat the geostigma and save everyone once again.

I think the only reason people are arguing about the realism is that a.) they don't want Aerith resurrected and b.) it's a film, which has to follow different rules than a game. But the story is going to have many supernatural elements, because that's reality in FFVII. Cloud does meet Aerith, and that's not necessarily realistic, but more supernatural. So it probably won't be all realism in a traditional sense. But it will be realistic within the parameters that FFVII set up for the realism of its world. :)

It is called Final Fantasy with a reason. Even Spirits Within tackles on the supernatural (unless dead aliens walking around wrecking havoc on the living is an everyday occurance).

I really hate those people who goes into the "realism should be important in AC blablabla". Who were they kidding? Really. It's not gonna aim to be realistic, it's gonna aim into something further.

Because, hey, it's called fiction.

:huggle: I know, right?

Also, realism is a subjective topic within the realm of FFVII, say some people argue that Cloud's death in AC would be unrealistic but others think of it as perfectly reasonable.

So what's the point in arguing about realism? Who is to say your realism is more realistic than mine? :)

That reminds me of a quote by Nomura. He said that they were having difficulties in rendering because they wanted to have realistic looking people doing unrealistic things. Just a random thought...

But seriously, it's called Final Fantasy. And in a game where marbles can summon small planets and decendants of aliens can summona holy power to stop said planet I'm betting ANYTHING could happen.
Besides, Nomura said that he likes to think FFVII and FFX/X-2 are linked through Shinra, so who's to say that Aeris can't be ressurected like Tidus was?

I think they mean realistic within the boundaries of the game! You know? Within the 'rules' that SE unofficially set when they made the game world.
Okay, lemme demonstrate. Within the FF7 world,it's realistic for Sephiroth and Rufus to come back because the way they died had a lot of mysterious circumstances surrounding it. However, it would be unrealistic for, say... Cloud to suddenly turn evil? :P Because it's already been established that he isn't.
It's also realistic for Aerith to help out even when she's dead because she's a Cetra, connected with the Promised Land and life beyond death. The supernatural elements surrounding the Cetra have already been established. So why wouldn't it be realistic for her to come back? Sephy came back, didn't he?

EXACTLY, thank you Kusari!

FF7 -10/10'2 linked?
I thought that was just rubbish people were spouting?

The realisim in AC seems finely balanced to me, sure people are casting spells and wielding weapons that would be immpossible to lift, but it doesn't break S.O.D and bring you out of the 'world'

I agree, DQ. The battle-system in the FF games is an aspect that would be terribly difficult to convert to film. But I think S-E seem to have done a fine job with balancing the need for realism and thrilling action sequences with fantasy, the sense of the character's strength and skill, and the magic they can utilise. It looks like they've managed to strike a delicate balance. ^_^

In an intereview(I can't remember where I read it, sorry) Nomura was asked about the character Shinra. He said that he "likes to imagine" that the worlds of FF10/10-2 and 7 are linked through him. He said that after Vegnagun was destroyed, it left behind Mako(which would explain why the glowy spots and Lifestream always looked so familiar). Shinra went and investigated it, discovered it could be used as energy, and started the company Shinra.
Pwetty cool neh?

And yes, I think they've struck a wonderful balance too! I'm glad to see Skills and Materia being used again :D

Ahhh, I just remembered all those times my brother annoyed me by bitchin' about every active time battle RPG that I played because they "weren't realistic" . He considers the battle system, and not the plot, to be the backbone of any RPG <_<