[WARNING: Spoilers for Final Fantasy 7 Remake AND Final Fantasy 7 below]
Throughout Final Fantasy 7 Remake's narrative, the immoral actions of the Shinra Corporation rob the characters of so much. Sector 7 is destroyed, Aerith is kidnapped, and much of Avalanche has been killed. Needless to say, the final act of the Midgar Arc is solely devoted to setting the record straight. Cloud, Barret, and Tifa devise a plan to infiltrate Shinra Headquarters and rescue Aerith from Hojo's nefarious clutches.
This core idea isn't changed very much in Final Fantasy 7 Remake. However, there are many subtle alterations to this portion of the journey. For example, the party's climb up to the Shinra HQ is now a fully-fledged area that spans an entire chapter. More apparent are the adjustments made to elements of the narrative. It seems that Final Fantasy 7 Remake opts to tone down some of the darker elements that make the Shinra Building so memorable. While Final Fantasy 7 Remake is a fantastic representation of Final Fantasy 7's story overall, some of the plot points within Final Fantasy 7 Remake's Shinra Building are less impactful.
One of the most impressive factors of the original Final Fantasy 7 is how devoted it was to a set tone. The Shinra Building was no exception. The source material's Shinra Building had many more elements of horror than are present within Final Fantasy 7 Remake's retelling of the events. Much of this horror comes down to the utilization of both Hojo and Jenova within the story. In the original Final Fantasy 7 game, Hojo is immediately portrayed as an irredeemably sick individual. When the player is introduced to Red XIII, Hojo attempts to force him and Aerith to mate. Needless to say, this scene immediately demonstrates that Hojo is a despicable, deranged, and evil individual. Final Fantasy 7 Remake also shows the player Hojo's sick nature early on, but how the original does this is simply unforgettably disgusting.
FF7 Remake's Biggest Adjustment To The Shinra Building
Perhaps the most unfortunate change in all of Remake's story is how it handles Jenova. In Final Fantasy 7, Cloud and the party are caught by the Turks and locked up to await their punishment. Cloud eventually drifts into sleep, but when he wakes up something haunting has occurred. Their cell doors are wide open, the guards blocking them have been viciously murdered, and there is blood splattered all over the floor, creating a path. The horrifying track "Trail Of Blood" plays to further enforce the frightening nature of the scene. Once the blood trail ends, the party finds the Shinra president impaled by Sephiroth's Masamune.
Strangely, Final Fantasy 7 Remake opts to ditch the brilliant horror scene from its source material and does something a bit different. Cloud and the party are never locked up, rather they are forced to escape Hojo's drum. In the end, they find that Jenova has escaped. She doesn't leave a horrifying trail of blood in her wake though. Instead, the player follows a path of strange alien "goop." The moment is significantly less impactful, as it fails to capture the horror-like element that made the original scene so perfect.
Overall, it's impossible to know exactly why these elements were changed in Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Some fans have speculated this change may have happened to keep the game from reaching a "Mature" rating. As it stands, Final Fantasy 7 Remake's retelling of the Shinra Building is still great. Still, the notion of witnessing such a horrifying scene through Final Fantasy 7 Remake's fantastic presentation could've been intensely memorable.
