FFVII
I missed the Elemental Materia in the Shinra building and it made me realize I have never managed to get Master Materia for any type in any playthrough lol
Like, I think I mastered a couple materia, and I normally get at least some of the huge materia, & I def managed to get gold chocobos
But...Master Materia & the Weapons are just an enormous grind
Like, that kinda grinding has just never interested me
FFVII
Also like, I think I had a lot more comfort with weird pacing and transitions in games and movies as a kid
It's frustrating now tho. Like, we get taunted w/exploring the rest of the lower ring bc you can go "outside" from Aerith's place, but really we only get to see small parts of 3 sectors
Also that you just...climb the wire and are at Shinra HQ instead of getting to trek through the upper ring is...bad pacing/world building
Also as an adult I'm horrified by the terrible city planning
FFVII
There's corkscrewing train around their double layer plate city, but there's no...means of following that path otherwise? That's so much wasted real estate, that would also make it easier to repair the plate as needed
Also lower slums used to be villages, but were clearly demolished and rebuilt in abandoned construction materials etc...but a lotta those folks work for Midgar/the upper ring. It's shocking none of that was planned in a way to at least extract wealth and utilities from them?
FFVII
All of this is of course ignoring that this is a completely planned city (at least the upper level) is a perfect circle, but...the neighborhoods are divvied up like a fucking pizza
I assume this is a result of their TERRIBLE construction design where the ring was built in these town-size pizza-slice shapes, slapped together so they don't support each other at all, and then just...each section rested on top of one (1) fucking pillar
Like, take a sec and imagine this
FFVII
You're a wealthy Midgardian, who lives on the upper ring. You work in Sector 2, but your friends & favorite restaurants are in Sector 3 so you decide to live walking distance from both
You pay in EXCESS bc you live near the ONE TRAIN & like to RP w/your wife in the lower bars ;)
It turns out, you're on a high rise apartment building kinnnda equidistant from two pillars
...and everytime the train goes by your building fucking WOBBLES as the seams on the fucking plate world are stressed
FFVII
@yeenbean holy fucking shit I never even thought about this holy balls...
...I wonder if the remake addresses this at all? c_c;;
FFVII
@Nine I feel like they must have just to make the city impressive in HD right? Cause like, these are images from the old game
The obvious answer is the game designers didn't really think about city layout since it's supposed to be a sprawling city with high rises and shit, but the tower in the center is like...60some stories and towers far above anything else?
Not to mention it'd be just as ugly living bn those giant section dividers as in the slums
FFVII
@Nine but given there's no weird section dividey things from the lower level (except the one), I think the reality is the upper level folks don't encounter the construction of the Midgar in their day to day unless they commute bn levels
So...the only realistic way of constructing a city this way I can come up with is that giant tower is the main support for every sector, sky rises are only built in bn the tower & pillars, and the edge is for lower buildings/gardens that look over the ring
FFVII
@yeenbean Yeah, if nothing else one single pillar would NOT be enough, no matter how big, to support all of that safely. the entire friggin plate would just shear off at the unsupported sides within days probably from the weight of the buildings. You'd need multiple pillars, side supports, suspension cables, the lot. holy christ. ...
...also hold up. Barret, Tifa and Cloud escaped S7 via a suspension cable attached to the upper plate, and down to that weak flimsy tower that blew up... wtf
FFVII
@Nine also it should have been a circular building (like it is inside) and not...kinda squarish like it looks in the cutscene when you get to the top of the wire?
FFVII
@yeenbean oh god yeah that shit would sway like fuckery in high winds wouldn't it with flat sides
FFVII
@yeenbean IN GAME even Shinra is way higher up. Remember that Emerald Weapon fires off its missiles or whatever right before the Sister Ray blows its head off, and its weaponry hits Shinra HQ directly, seemingly blowing Rufus to high hell in his penthouse at the VERY TOP Of the shinra building. You see the very top of that central spire in the middle get blown to hell too in the cutscene, so... yeah. what the hell. wow. lol
FFVII
@Nine oh fuck that's right 
Not sure I wanna play that far into it, but if I do I'll pay attention and be ready to laugh lol
FFVII
@yeenbean lol i just thought of something more that just made me giggle a lot.
Sapphire Weapon gets shot by the Mako Cannon at Junon first doesn't it? And like, it does that thing where it rises up and RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE DAMN CANNON, and does that headtilt like "uuuh... oh.. shit that's uh... that's a big gun. You uh. you mind pointing that elsewh-" and then BOOM right in the jaw with the damn thing.
I just... c'mon Sapph, you coulda just... attacked from the side you goober, lol
FFVII
@Nine lolololol
FFVII
@Nine right? Even if the center is the main support, you would absolutely need to plan construction on the upper plate around the fact your plate is not made to last and has zero sense of balance
The amount you climb to get to Shinra HQ from the lower levels is also...when I did it I thought it was a short climb to the upper plate, but based on the birdseye of the city Shinra shoulda been higher up