(06-16-2015, 12:35 PM)Aaron Wrote: Genesis /led/ sephiroth to read those notes and all that in VII
SE didn't just ADD him for no reason. They made him the catalyst for Sephiroths decent into madness.
I never said he was added for no reason. I am saying there was no reason to add him. There's a big difference there.
In the core FF7 game, Sephiroth realizes on his own that something's amiss when they find those capsules in the reactor. He's different, but he doesn't know exactly why. That pushes him to look into the research and notes at the building where ShinRa's people were stationed. He finds out that he isn't truly human - he's created using the cells of Jenova, who is believed to be of the ancient Cetra. Those who continued to wander instead of settling and becoming the current people of the Planet.
Those who gave up the Cetra way of life, turned against his mother's people and left them to die out. He decides to be the avenger of the Cetra, using his power to make those who settled pay. He sets fire to Nibelheim, kills Tifa's father, and heads back to the reactor to rescue his mother from her confinement.
Tifa chases after him, and Cloud and Zack chase after Tifa. Tifa is struck down, as is Zack. Cloud, seeing his childhood friend and his buddy laid low, takes up Zack's sword and challenges Sephiroth for taking everything from him. They fight and, despite getting run through, Cloud grabs hold of the Masamune and flings Sephiroth into the core of the reactor.
So, a self-appointed avenger of an ancient people was not only defeated by the child of the race he felt betrayed the Cetra. But it wasn't even someone bolstered with Mako. It was a SOLDIER failure. Someone who, in his eyes, wasn't even worth paying attention to. That's who nearly killed him.
Genesis wasn't needed for any of that. He just doesn't add anything that wasn't already going to happen. All it does is try to take the agency away from Sephiroth and give it to Genesis. He couldn't figure out something was wrong on his own - despite killing a Dragon basically by himself. He wouldn't know to go do the research that would lead to the realization - despite knowing the mansion (referred to as Shinra Mansion!) was being used for ShinRa research.
He had to be told. Directed. By, what seems to me, to be little more an a fan-insert. I'm not the biggest fan of Sephiroth - as mentioned, I feel he's a knockoff Kefka with mommy issues - but I still feel that the addition of Genesis as a character cheapens him, takes away some of his agency, and ultimately makes him a less effective villain because Genesis is suddenly the mastermind behind everything.
As you said, it was cool that Zack got fleshed out more and we got a chance to see Sephiroth before he went mad - I can agree on that, it's nice to have more context on how they both were before things went so wrong. And I've heard the gameplay for Crisis Core itself was pretty neat - with the roulette Limit Breaks and stuff. But I still cleave to the opinion that Genesis was an unnecessary addition and should not have been included.