I liked Last Order considerably better than Advent Children. However, I couldn't stand the fact that it's subtly, but profoundly inconsistent with the game canon.

The biggest inconsistency that would actually have greatly changed the game's plot: Tifa talks to Cloud at the Mako reactor.

It's very important for Tifa to not have known for sure that Cloud had come back to Nibelheim during the incident five years before the game. Sephiroth gains much of his power by manipulating Cloud, which is done through a combination of Jenova-cell control, as well as a good-ol'-fashioned mind-fck.

Sephiroth causes Cloud to question his identity by showing proof that he was never a Soldier and has merely acquired Zack's memories. Tifa cannot refute this evidence because she truly thinks that only Zack had come to Nibelheim.

If Tifa had been able to validate that Cloud had indeed been at Nibelheim five years prior, she would've possibly been able to prevent Sephiroth from persuading Cloud that he was merely a clone. However, as she was unconscious in the game, this dilemma remains a moot point of argument until the climax of Tifa resolving Cloud's - as well as her own - memories of their hometown of Nibelheim.

Thus, in order to preserve the game's validity, Tifa should not have talked to Cloud, or perhaps should have appeared delirious, thus causing her not to remember, or to believe she remembered incorrectly.

The only function of this change: to add sentimentality and more human element to the plot, but also there's the mark of fan service. I like Cloti, but not at the price of a weak plot.

My other annoyance: Sephiroth jumping of his own free will.

In the game, Cloud is impaled, but grabs the sword in his chest, and to the General's surprise, launches Sephiroth into the depths of the Mako reactor. In LO, Cloud does get impaled and also surprisingly overpowers Sephiroth, but instead of Cloud tossing him over the edge, he jumps of his own accord.

While this doesn't affect game canon, it does greatly weaken the impact of the scene. The point of that sequence is to show the strength of Cloud's determination and the fury of his revenge being able to overcome even the Great General Sephiroth. In Last Order, by showing Sephiroth jumping of his own accord, it allows Sephiroth to keep some of his own pride, while weakening Cloud's character.

And the only reason that scenario writers would want Sephiroth to keep some of his dignity is to appease the large amount of Sephiroth fans out there by trying to further his famed "badass-itude". *gag* They are trying to preserve his status amongst fans as a god-like being who is never weak, but ironically this weakens him as a character, by elevating him beyond human empathy.

Last Order, in my opinion, show much more respect to the original video game than Advent Children, but still contains glaring problems regarding fan service.

Yeah when I watched it I was annoyed but both those changes especially Tifa talking to Cloud, the only way they can mend this inconsistence is by Tifa possibly having Amnesia after recovering from in Midgar or not truly remembering talking to Cloud because she was hurt so badly.

I didn't like the fact Sephiroth jumped in, it just made Cloud look weak and his characterisation suffered cause of it.

Yeah, I did like Last Order as a whole (unlike Advent Children), but the two problems I cited significantly weaken continuity between the game and compilation, which is pretty foolish.

It's really just annoying that monetary returns and fan service control the direction of these things, rather than raw creative decisions. This problem, in my opinion is the biggest flaw of Square Enix as of right now (Disney too, but I'll not get into that). I think that the FFVII Compilation, as well as the FFXIII ploy with all the different games (Agito, Versus, etc.), is more driven by profit rather than an actual desire the create an innovative concept which is contrary to the state of the company when FFVII was first created.

Basically, if Square really wants to create an awesome game like FFVII, they need to stop kowtowing to fans and just do what they did in the nineties.

As irrational as it is, I consider parts of the Compilation to be canon, but not all of it.

I don't consider the Sephiroth clones to be canon, because I perceived them as pure fan service (a dirty and fast reason to cause conflict and eye-candy fight scenes, as well as a deus ex machina conveyance for a Sephiroth cameo).

Neither do I consider the survival of Rufus nor Tseng to be canon, simply because they really don't have to survive. I can't see why Square-Enix did what they did - in any case, it was lame.

I do consider Denzel and Geostigma to be canon, as well the general recounted events of "On the Way to a Smile" to be canon, as they actually are more cohesive and respectful to the game (since they seemed to be created to bridge the gaps between the game and AC, this was necessary).

I haven't played nor learned much about BC, CC, nor DC, and frankly probably won't as I'm afraid to see the fandom get butchered any further.

Well, all of the Compilation is pretty much canon in the official sense, no matter how I feel.

What I mean is that I'm not accepting certain parts as my own view of what fits with the original game canon or not, in terms of the tone, general thematic elements, consistency within the game-verse, etc.

So yes, Kadaj, etc. are canon, but I don't think they would have existed based on Square's original creativity - they are only borne out of the need for fan service. Therefore, they don't count in my personal view of canon.

The one that really annoyed me was Sephiroth jumping into the Mako reactor instead of Cloud throwing him in. I always thought that by showing Cloud throw Sephiroth in showed that he was always stronger than Sephiroth and made the one on one fight at the end of the game more believable.

I think Square was just catering to the Sephiroth fanboys by trying to make him more badass. *rollseyes*