Maybe probably the most impactful factor about returning to the world of Final Fantasy VII for me has been how a lot its concepts resonate in 2024–many of them much more than they did in 1997. The environmental themes and plotline of FF7 is perhaps exceedingly blunt, however they’re additionally regularly related as we dwell via yet one more “hottest year of your life so far.” And after ending Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, I maintain excited about one thing else that feels just a little too actual: the Shinra Electric Power Company.Shinra is the company of cackling villains on the coronary heart of FF7. Much of the story is about how useful resource extraction for the sake of human progress (with “human progress” usually being interchangeable with “greed”) is actually killing the planet, how Shinra are the oldsters accountable, and the way they don’t care. More than that, although, is the truth that Shinra is a company whose energy has grown so immense that it dominates many of the world. It makes and enforces legal guidelines, it owns and polices cities, it manufactures weapons and trains troopers, and it wages wars.
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Now Playing: The Biggest Changes In Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
The Shinra of Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth is not precisely one-to-one with the companies of our late-stage capitalist actual world (though it’s fairly just like the oil firms that knew in regards to the results of local weather change way back to the 1970s). But whereas the idea of an omnipotent company felt a bit extra out-there in 1997, it is so much simpler to imagine immediately, when one capricious billionaire owns main international communications networks and wields absolute management over them, one other is operating for a second stab on the United States presidency whereas preventing off lawsuits and felony trials, and plenty of extra spend untold hundreds of thousands to elect politicians who will go insurance policies to reshape the US to their imaginative and prescient.If Square Enix is searching for extra methods to flesh out the Final Fantasy VII universe, FF7 Rebirth offers it an ideal alternative to take action whereas additionally exploring themes and concepts that is perhaps simply as impactful as FF7’s environmentalist leanings. Thanks to some delicate growth of the FF7 lore in Rebirth, Square has opened the door to telling the story of the rise of Shinra–and that is completely a recreation it ought to make.Like Remake earlier than it, Rebirth provides so much to the Final Fantasy VII story, however one of many extra delicate modifications is the way in which it fleshes out the historical past of the world. You get a couple of of those tidbits from character dialogue and off-hand references to the way in which the world was once, however probably the most detailed rundowns come from the “world intel” you possibly can uncover by exploring every new space you enter and finishing its open-world actions. The clearest have a look at FF7’s previous comes within the Junon area, the place you begin to get a way of what the world was like earlier than Shinra took over.Rebirth begins to inform the story of a world that was largely united below a authorities referred to as the Republic of Junon. It was based primarily by sailors, and its capital was a floating metropolis customary from a flotilla of ships off the coast of the Junon area. Like Shinra, it initially arose from being a dominant drive in commerce. From what might be gleaned from the regional backstory, Junon grew to regulate a lot of the world, counting on sources like coal and wind to generate electrical energy.The large power and industrial energy mako afforded Shinra allowed it to construct the hyper-modern metropolis of Midgar.And then Shinra found mako, a unstable however {powerful} power supply siphoned immediately from the lifeforce of the planet, and every thing modified.Though the main points are sparse, we all know mako earned Shinra a ton of cash, and it funneled that cash into analysis. Soon it was creating high-tech weaponry and powerful artificial supplies (and ultimately, egomaniacal supersoldiers). Mako energy and the merchandise it yielded have been considerably extra helpful and extra superior than what was created utilizing conventional sources like coal or the sturdy mineral mythril. Shinra turned so {powerful} that it went to battle with the Republic of Junon, and after protracted preventing, it emerged victorious, with the republic completely vanquished.This interval, during which Shinra turns into a too-big-to-fail monster of a company that begins to rival governments after which change them, is the place Square Enix ought to focus its FF7 efforts after the third recreation within the Remake trilogy. What background morsels Rebirth gives paint an incomplete however compelling image. One lore entry states that troopers have been forcibly conscripted into the battle effort from all around the world, though it does not say which aspect was doing the conscripting or if each have been. You discuss to 1 or two individuals who have been round for, and even fought in, the battle with Junon, they usually give the impression that the republic was perhaps not as ethical and upstanding as you would possibly first assume, given it was the enemy of Shinra. Then once more, although, is that simply lingering Shinra propaganda, deployed to show the folks in opposition to what appears like an elected authorities in favor of a corporatocracy?There’s not a ton of details about the battle between Shinra and the Republic of Junon, however Rebirth sprinkles in sufficient to supply a foothold for future tales.We know the way issues shake out–Shinra destroys the Republic of Junon, sinks its capital, and fills the ability vacuum left behind to turn into the de facto authorities of a lot of the world. But there’s loads of story that might be value telling inside these broad strokes. What if the Republic of Junon was oppressive to the folks, and Shinra was capable of transfer in as a heroic savior, for example? How did a handful of individuals collect up sufficient energy to take down a republic? Surely there have been idealists on either side, together with individuals who genuinely believed they have been doing the appropriate factor preventing for a corporation–who have been these folks, and what have been their experiences like?The factor a couple of story delving into the rise of Shinra is that it has a ton of potential to boost the world of Final Fantasy VII with out retreading the identical acquainted floor. We’ve bought loads of FF7 content material about genetically enhanced supersoldiers dropping their minds due to the unethical meddling of evil scientists and the company greed that allows them. This could be a chance to inform a political story about common folks in a world rushing towards battle on the identical time it accelerates via technological progress. It’s simple to think about loads of potentialities, bolstered by the power of a lot of Rebirth’s storytelling and character growth.What makes the concept so fascinating, although, is that there are loads of parts that really feel near actuality. We dwell in a world of companies consolidating increasingly energy into the palms of some folks with little or no accountability. It’s not an enormous stretch to think about a Shinra coming to energy once we’ve bought companies like Nestle, Meta, and Amazon (to call simply three) flexing main management over important sources, providers, and infrastructure.Rufus inherits the Shinra presidency when his father dies, which all of a sudden offers him authority over an enormous chunk of the world, as nicely.Cyberpunk tales at all times soar neck-deep into dystopia, positing worlds the place capitalism has run so amok that companies supplant governments, and that is the place we discover FF7. What we’re dwelling via now feels extra like what comes instantly earlier than the corporate-owned dystopia, the place establishments fail or are consciously dismantled and the ever-present push for brand spanking new methods to make much more cash is not enhancing the world, however worsening it. In every thing, from web engines like google turning into much less and fewer dependable, to the fixed barrage of scams making telephones virtually unusable, to motion pictures and TV reveals being deleted by their house owners for tax write-offs, to grocery retailer firms blaming inflation for worth hikes whereas posting report income, it appears like the company class is exerting extra management over on a regular basis life with fewer and fewer means to curtail it.So a narrative in regards to the rise of Shinra might be a significant one, completely positioned to discover the concept of personal possession taking management of the general public good. What occurs when an organization has singular entry to how folks discover reliable data, or controls large quantities of recent water, or owns important communications infrastructure? Those are questions we’re answering proper now.Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, like Remake earlier than it, may not be particularly delicate about its themes, however the video games have carried out nicely to develop on the core concepts of FF7–like dying, grieving, and mortality–and to discover them in some considerate methods. If Square Enix needs to proceed its Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, the backstory of the Republic of Junon gives new house to do it, whereas increasing the life and element of what has turn into an enchanting world. Most of all, although, that is one other likelihood for the world of Final Fantasy VII to inform tales that mirror actuality, and turn into extra resonant and significant due to it.