Final Fantasy VII Remake Script Comparison: Chapter 3

They get off the train and cheer their success. Wedge gets a line in Japanese that’s vaguely similar to Barret’s speech upon getting off the train in the original, saying that the mission was a success (作戦は成功 ; sakusen ha seikou). The English reworks it into nice, snappy dialogue that gets the same point across.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
バレット　うおっしゃー！	Barret Hot damn, we are good!
ウェッジ　全員　無事帰還	Wedge Bombs detonated: one.
ウェッジ　作戦　大成功ッス！	Wedge Members lost: zero!	バレット「今回の作戦は成功だ。　だがな、気を抜くなよ」	Barret “This mission was a success. But don’t get lazy now.”
ビッグス　星を救う　でっかいはじめの一歩だ！	Biggs And one step closer to a brighter future!	「本番はこれからだ！　あんな爆発でびびるな！」	“The hard part’s still to come! Don’t y’all be scared of that explosion!”

Barret tells them to keep it down, reflecting the spirit of a line from the original where he tells Cloud to settle down if the player runs over to him fast enough. Rather than a direct reference (the wording doesn’t match up at all), this mostly serves to exhibit how even little character traits like this have been retained.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
バレット　おまえら	Barret Guys!	バレット「へッ！！　まあ、落ちつけよ」	(2) Barret “Heh! Jus’ calm down.”
バレット　ぴーひゃら喋るんじゃねえ　捕まるぞ？	Barret Lower your voices, huh? People are listening.	「街のやつらにあやしまれると　まずいからな…」	“Can’t have people suspectin’ us.”
バレット　次の作戦まで　自由行動	Barret Now get some R&R. You’ve earned it.	バレット「アジトに集合だ！！　いくぞ！」	Barret “Meet back at the hideout!! Move out!”

The rest of Avalanche heads back to Sector 7, but Cloud can stick around and listen to NPC chatter.

The couple by the train station steps makes a return from the original, with the exact same dialogue in Japanese. This time, with more context and the benefit of voice acting, the English does a great job of interpreting the lady’s vague ええs. ええ (eh) can mean “yes,” but depending on the intonation, it can also be used to express just about any emotion from enthusiasm to confusion or even disgust. In any case, the English translation gets a huge glow up here, sounding a lot more like a believable conversation.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
今夜は帰さないよ	How about it, baby girl?	「今夜は帰さないよ」	“I’m not letting you go tonight.”
ええ～？	How about what?	「エェ！」	“Wow!”
ねえ　どっかで休んで行こう	Let’s go someplace a little less crowded, huh?	「ね、どっかで休んでいこう」	“Isn’t there somewhere we could go to be alone?”
ええ	Okay…	「エェ！」	“Wow!”
でもこのあたり列車墓場しかないしオバケ出るっていうし	Except…the only place around here is the train graveyard. Which everyone says is haunted. But that’s cool, right?	「でも、このあたり　列車墓場しかないし。　オバケでるっていうし」	“There’s only the train graveyard around here. And they say there’s ghosts around too!”
しまった……	Uhhh…rain check?	「……しまった」	“…damn.”
え……？	Ugh.	「え？」	“What?”

As Cloud continues on, he runs into an undercity resident complaining about Avalanche’s posters. This is reminiscent of a line in the original where an NPC reads off an Avalanche poster after the bomb explodes. The wording isn’t the same, but the content is similar enough, declaring that mako is the planet’s life.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
スラム住民　『魔晄は星を巡る血』って　言われてもなぁ？	Undercity Resident Hah. “Mako is the lifeblood of the planet”? The hell it is.	『神羅にだまされるな！　魔晄エネルギーは永遠ではない！　魔晄は星の命！　いつか終わりがやってくる！	Don’t be fooled by Shinra! Mako energy doesn’t last forever! Mako is the Planet’s lifesource! The end is in sight!
スラム住民　はがしてもはがしても　すぐ元どおり	Undercity Resident Goddamn eco-warriors with their dumbass posters.
スラム住民　妄想じみた出張はともかく　しつこさには　頭が下がるよ	Undercity Resident I tear ’em down and they’re back up inside of an hour. Like I’ve got nothing better to do…

The undercity resident then goes on to talk about the pillar, which feels like a nod to the guy who was obsessed with it in the original, even if the dialogue itself doesn’t line up at all.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
スラム住民　見ろよ　あの美しい鉄骨　たまんねぇな	Undercity Resident I mean, look at all that steelwork… You’re trying to tell me that’s not progress?	「ほら……。　なんだか、素敵で不思議な場所だろ」	“Hey… This is a strange and wonderful place.”

The new recruit and senior officer also make a return from the original! And their roles are made clear with their nametags! The first three lines of their dialogue line up with what they’d say when you talked to the new recruit in the original, though mostly reworded even in Japanese. The senior officer’s line is the only one kept verbatim. 堂々 (doudou) is an adverb that means “brazenly/confidently.” Altogether, the line is roughly “Can’t you be more confident?!” The original translation played the line straight, but E Remake goes for something more military-sounding that still gets that same point across.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
新人兵士　あの　現在緊急事態につき　こちらは通行禁止に　なっています　すみません	New Recruit Um, excuse me. Due to an emergency, entry into this area is prohibited. Sorry for the inconvenience.	「あ、あ、あの…… 　すいません。　ここから先は、　立入禁止なんですが」	“Ah…eh…uhm. Excuse me. You cannot pass without the proper clearance.”
先輩兵士　もっと堂々とせんか	Senior Officer You call that a warning!?	「もっと、どうどうとせんか！」	“You gotta be tougher!”
新人兵士　は……はい！	New Recruit No, sir!	「え、で、でも……」	“But, uh, I…”

Heading into Sector 7 proper, if you hang around the edge of the area you can avoid triggering the cutscene and listen in on more NPCs in the area. One of whom complains about being kicked out of the bar, just like an NPC in the original, though the dialogue itself isn’t the same. The other NPC also mentions how Tifa apologized to everyone, something you can briefly see her doing in the original if you run over to the bar fast enough.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
セブンスヘブン変な時間に閉店したね	I don’t think I’ve ever seen Seventh Heaven close that early.	「酒かっくらいながら、　ニュースを見てりゃよ。　突然、店を追い出される。　たまんねぇよなぁ！！」	“I was jes sittin’ here drinkin’, watchin’ the news by myself.”
もっとテレビ見たかったのに途中で追い出すなんて　ひどい	I know! All I wanted was to finish my show. How dare they kick us out.		“‘n’ all of a sudden I get kicked outta the &*%$ store. What’s up with that!?”
怒らないのティファちゃんすごく謝ってたでしょ	Aw, don’t take it personally. You heard how much Tifa apologized.	「酒、飲みかけだったのによ。　あっ、かんじょうもまだだ…」	“I wasn’t even done with my drink. I didn’t even pay my bill…”

The gossip lady’s dialogue is back word for word in Japanese, just distributed between two ladies now.

E Remake adjusts some things to make it sound more like a conversation (like adding in “That can’t be good”), and basically does a fantastic job making the dialogue sound more natural. Interestingly, the “one billion gil” in the Japanese has been increased to “a couple hundred trillion,” perhaps to adjust for today’s inflation and really make it sound like an astonishing amount. Also, E Remake corrects the original’s mistranslation, affirming that most people died in their sleep.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
ミッドガルの電力がマヒしちゃったらコンピューターとか信号とかいろいろ止まっちゃうじゃない？	If Midgar loses power, aren’t computers and traffic lights and all that going to shut down? That can’t be good.	「ミッドガルの電力が　マヒしちゃったら　コンピューターとか信号とか　いろいろ止まっちゃうじゃない」	“If you knock out Midgar’s power, then all of its computers and signals are going to be knocked out too.”
経済的損失は　１０億ギルはくだらないわ	The economic losses would be staggering. A couple hundred trillion gil or more.	「経ざい的損失は、ん～～　１０億ギルはくだらないし」	“Financially there must’ve been about a billion gil worth of damage.”
それにたくさんの罪なき人々が死んだと思うのよ爆破が夜中だったから　まだいいわ	And that’s nothing compared to the lives already lost. At least most people were sleeping at the time, so they went peacefully.	「それに！！　たくさんの罪なき人々が死んだと　思うのよ」	“An’ that ain’t all! A lotta innocent people got killed too!”
		「爆破が真夜中だったから、　まだいいわ。　眠ってた人はそのまま目が　覚めないだけね」	“If the explosion had been in the middle of the night, that woulda been one thing. At least the people coulda gone in their sleep.”
眠ってた人はそのまま目が覚めないだけねとにかく　魔晄炉の爆発でミッドガルは大混乱よ	But that doesn’t change the fact that Midgar has been thrown into a panic. We need to know what the administration plans to do about this, and now!	「とにかく、魔晄炉の爆発で　ミッドガルは大混乱らしいの」	“This Mako explosion has really sent Midgar into a fit.”

You can find Kyrie for the second time (our first glimpse of her was on the train). She also seems to be spiritually inheriting the gossip lady’s role, especially with her 知ってる? (shitteru? ; “Do (you) know?”). It’s interesting to note that both translations go for “hear” instead of “know,” probably because “Have you heard?” sounds a lot more like something a gossip would say.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
？？？？　これは知ってる？　なんと八番街じゃ　駅前のハイウェイが崩れ落ちる大惨事	??? Anyone hear about this? You know the expressway by the station in Sector 8? It collapsed during the explosion!	「ねぇ、ねぇ、知ってる？」　　　興味ないね　　　知らないよ	“Did you hear?” 　　　Don’t care 　　　No, what?

The standard greetings are exchanged upon Cloud’s and Barret’s return to the bar. The English translation does a great job of immediately communicating Barret’s love for Marlene by having him call her “angel.” ただいま (tadaima) is the set reply for the おかえり (okaeri ; “welcome home”) greeting, and something that doesn’t always translate the best, considering English doesn’t really have a standard phrase for when someone returns home. In any case, E Remake deftly writes around this.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
マリン　父ちゃん　おかえりなさい	Marlene Daddy! You’re home!	マリン「とうちゃん、おかえり！」	Marlene “Papa, welcome home!”
バレット　ただいまぁ！	Barret That’s right, angel, I am!	バレット「おう、ただいま」	Barret “Yeah.”
ティファ　おかえり	Tifa Welcome back!	ティファ「バレット、ごくろうさま」	Tifa “You all right, Barret?”

Cloud giving Tifa the flower is now canon. Like in the original, Tifa notes that real flowers are rare (めずらしい ; mezurashii), and the English translation references the original a bit by having her say she hardly ever sees them.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
ティファ　それ　どうしたの？　本物でしょ　めずらしいね	Tifa Where’d you get that? I can’t remember the last time I saw a real one.	ティファ「あら？　お花なんてめずらしいわね」	Tifa “Flowers? How nice…”
		「スラムじゃ、　めったにさかないのよ」	“You almost never see them here in the slums.”
ティファ　意外だな　クラウド　こんなことするんだ	Tifa How sweet. When did you get so thoughtful?	「プレゼントに、お花なんて　クラウド、そうなんだ～」	“A flower for me? Oh Cloud, you shouldn’t have…”

We then head into more new dialogue territory. The English writing here remains fantastic, making Marlene sound more like a child by having her refer to the mako reactor as “the mako place.” Barret also sounds exactly like a doting parent.

Marlene is scared of Cloud, like she is in the original, and this time around Barret gets to show his protective side. In Japanese, he calls Marlene えらい (erai) a bunch of times, basically meaning “that’s great (of you).” The English writes around this repetition, and has him praise her by calling her a “good girl.”

Japanese Remake	English Remake
バレット　てめえ　マリンに　なにしやがった？	Barret Hey! The hell you think you’re doing scaring my daughter like that!?
マリン　しらないひととは　しゃべっちゃダメって	Marlene Daddy says never talk to strangers.
バレット　えらいぞ　マリン　父ちゃんとの約束　忘れなかったなぁ	Barret That’s right, honey, I do say that. What a good girl you are, remembering Daddy’s lessons.
バレット　えらい　えらいぞ～　じゃ　おやすみの時間も守らないとな	Barret You know what else good girls do? They go to bed on time. C’mon.

Cloud insists on getting his money, like a good freelancer. The Japanese here is pretty much the same: 報酬の話をしたい (houshuu no hanashi wo shitai), “I want to talk about (my) money/payment.” E Remake continues the pattern of getting that intent across without saying exactly that.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
ティファ　そうだ　ごはん食べる？	Tifa So, then! What can I get you?
クラウド　いや　報酬の話をしたい	Cloud My money. I’m still waiting on it.	クラウド「俺は上で待っている。　報酬の話がしたい」	Cloud “I’m going upstairs. I want to talk about my money.”

Tifa leads Cloud to his new apartment, chatting with him on the way. We get some of Tifa’s old dialogue here, but in a new context. Some of the Japanese phrasing lines up a little bit, like 心配だったんだ (shinpai dattanda ; “(I) was worried”) and ケンカばかりしてた (kenka bakari shiteta ; “(you) always fought”). But for the most part these lines are rewritten in both Japanese and English. Tifa expresses concern/regret for sending Cloud on such a dangerous job, and Cloud brushes it off. She then asks if Cloud fought with the Avalanche members and comments that she was worried because Cloud often doesn’t get along with others.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
ティファ　だよね　ごめんね　巻き込んで　軽率だったって　反省してる	Tifa Sorry for dragging you into all this. It was wrong of me to put you in danger like that. I promise I won’t do it again.	ティファ「なんだか、ほっとしちゃった。　クラウドが無事もどってきて」	Tifa “You know, I’m relieved you made it back safely.”
クラウド　俺のことなら気にするな　これは　仕事だ	Cloud Danger’s part of the job. Don’t worry about me.	クラウド「急にどうした？　あのていどの仕事、　なんでもないさ」	Cloud “What’s with you all of a sudden? That wasn’t even a tough job.”
ティファ　うん　わかった	Tifa I’ll try not to.	ティファ「そうね……」	Tifa “I guess not…”

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
ティファ　バレットたちと　もめなかった？	Tifa So, you make nice with everyone?	「バレットとはケンカ　しなかった？」　　　やっちゃった　　　ガマンした	“Did you fight with Barret?” 　　　Yeah 　　　Not this time
クラウド　ああ　向こうがどう思ったか　知らないけどな	Cloud Much as I could, all things considered. Maybe not enough for them.
ティファ　そう　心配だったんだ	Tifa Good. You had me worried.	「……ちょっと、心配だったんだ」	“I was worried.”
ティファ　クラウドは　ケンカばかりしてた　からね	Tifa You’re not exactly a people person.	「バレットはあんな人だし　クラウドは子供のころから　ケンカばかりしてたしね」	“He’s always pushing people around, and you’ve always been in fights ever since you were little.”

If you hang around in the area by the apartment building, you’ll find an NPC who has no idea what’s going on and is getting caught up on the news, similar to an NPC in the original. Though the Japanese doesn’t entirely line up, it still feels like something of a reference with the どうなってんだ (dou nattenda ; “what’s going on?”) and 思ったら (omottara) which means something like “I wondered what was going on, and then found out…”

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
どうなってんだ	What’s going on?	「まったくよぉ！！　今夜はどうなってんだかよ！！」	“Oh &$#&@!! What the hell’s wrong tonight!!”
		「さっきまでずいぶん長く停電してたから　みょうだと思ってたらよ」	“I thought that long blackout was strange.”
騒がしいと思ったら爆破がどうとか言ってるし	Suddenly, everyone’s talking about some bomb going off?	「上で、魔晄炉爆破テロがおきたって　いうじゃねぇか」	“They say a Mako Reactor was destroyed above.”

And now we’re in all new territory. After the Marco incident, the English translation has Tifa actually reacting to what just happened, instead of just info-dumping like in Japanese, which is roughly just “This is Marco who lives in 203.”

Japanese Remake	English Remake
ティファ　この人は　２０３号室の　マルカートさん	Tifa What are you doing to Marco? This is his apartment.

The next morning, Cloud meets the landlady, Marle. “You up from on high?” is such a great line. Incidentally, in Japanese she specifies that Cloud arrived two days ago, but English forgoes this information in favor of a more natural question. We already know that Cloud arrived recently because he didn’t even have a place to stay, and the exact date of his arrival isn’t relevant to the story at this point.

Japanese Remake	English Remake
？？？？　おや　あんたがクラウドだね	??? Well, now. You must be Cloud.
マーレ　あたしは大家のマーレ　で　おととい来たんだって？	Marle I’m Marle, your landlady. So how’d you like the place?
マーレ　それまでは　上かい	Marle You from up on high?
クラウド　いろいろだ	Cloud I’ve been around.

Now that we have free roam of Sector 7, we can hunt down some more NPC lines from the original.

First off is the kid by the apartment pretending to be a spy. You may have missed this line while playing through the original game, because it requires you to leave the bar after Avalanche descends into their hideout, something you wouldn’t normally think to do. In any case, the first line of the Japanese is exactly the same, and the second is tweaked a bit from なんか、でてきました (nanka detekimashita ; lit. “something came out/appeared!”) to なんか報告できました (nanka houkoku dekimashita ; lit. “I was able to report something.”). E Remake does a great job of making the dialogue sound more like actual spy-talk in comparison to the original.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
異常なし　ただいまスパイ中ああ　なんか報告できました	Nothing to report. Maintaining surveillance. Ohhh, being a spy is so cool!	「異常なし！！　ただいま、スパイ中！」	“All’s quiet!! Shh, I’m spying now!”
夜まで待機ああ　はやく報告～報告～	Holding position until nightfall! Will report any developments immediately if observed!	「ああ！！　なんか、でてきました！！　報告～！！　報告～！！」	“OH!! There’s something!! DANGER!! ALERT!!”

We also find some kids hanging around the beginner’s hall who tell Cloud that he looks like he needs more sleep. This definitely feels like a reference to the kid from the original, though we’ll get a more direct reference to him later.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Remake
おじさん　表情固いな疲れたら休むスラムの心得そのいちだぜ	Someone looks like they’re having a bad day. Try getting more sleep—that’s the best cure-all down here!	「チッ！！　おっさん、しけたツラしてんな。　もしかして、つかれてんじゃないの？」	“You dried up old geez. You tired?”
おじさん　その顔…… 疲れてるんじゃなくてカッコつけてるのか	Hold on—don’t tell me you’re making that face ’cause you think it looks cool, are you?	「強情だな！もうっ！　休めるときに休む」	(2) “Tough guy, huh!? You’d better sleep when you can.”
		「これがタフに生きてく基本だぜ！　おっさん、覚えときな」	“That’s the trick to being tough. Remember that, old dude.”

There’s a couple tucked away in a corner who say stuff like “Not gonna let you sleep a wink tonight!” which is reminiscent of the train station couple’s “I’m not letting you go tonight.” Followed up with a comment about snoring impeding sleep, which feels like a little wink at a dialogue option from the original. Perhaps a bit of a stretch, but still.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
今日は寝かせないぞ	Not gonna let you sleep a wink tonight!	「今夜は帰さないよ」	“I’m not letting you go tonight.”
あんたのイビキで　毎晩眠れない	Your snoring keeps me up every night!	「よく、眠れた？」　　バレットのイビキがうるさくて… 　　ティファがそばにいたから…	“Did you sleep well?” 　　Barret’s snoring kept me up…… 　　Next to you, who wouldn’t?

Then there’s an NPC by the train station that has a line that’s similar to one that was cut from the original game. At least, the かわいいな (kawaii na ; “(you’re) cute”) is the same, and both English translations use “cutie pie.” Which could be a coincidence, but I thought it was interesting.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original (cut)	English Original (cut)
君はかわいいなあボク　君にラブラブだよ	How could I not? I love you so, so much, my darling cutie-pie…	やっぱ、かわいいなぁ。マイラブリーエンジェルちゃん…	Say, you’re kinda cute. Cutie pie...

You can talk to Johnny’s father at this point, too. His lines don’t really match any of his old dialogue, but he refers to Cloud as “Tifa’s childhood friend” something the Sector 7 NPCs often called him in the original. And if you talk to him enough, he’ll mention ordering grappling guns, which suggests that he deals with Avalanche under the table. This is consistent with an unused line from the original where he says that he’s secretly rooting for Avalanche.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
ジョニーの父　あなたが　噂のティファちゃんの幼馴染で　なんでも屋さんですね	Johnny’s Father Hello there! You must be that friend of Tifa’s I’ve heard so much about. The mercenary?	「やい！幼なじみ！　ティファちゃん　を大切にな！」	“Hey! Childhood friend! You better take good care of Tifa!”
ジョニーの父　私　いろいろ商売をしておりまして　セブンスヘブンとも取引があるんですよ	Johnny’s Father I’ve got fingers in a few pies myself. Worked with a lot of businesses—even Seventh Heaven on occasion.
ジョニーの父　つまり　あなたとも　まんざら他人じゃないってことだな	Johnny’s Father What I’m saying is, you and me, we’re not so different—and certainly not complete strangers.
ジョニーの父　私のことは　遠い親戚のおじさんとでも　思ってくれていいですよ	Johnny’s Father In fact, I want you to think of me as family. You know, an uncle or maybe a distant relative.
ジョニーの父　そうだ　あなた　高いところからササーッと降下できる　ワイヤーリールに興味はありませんか？	Johnny’s Father Oh, while I have you here, you wouldn’t happen to be interested in grappling guns, would you? Great for getting up or down in a jiffy!
ジョニーの父　顧客に頼まれて仕入れたんですが　数をひとケタ　間違えましてね	Johnny’s Father I ordered some for a client, but I accidentally added a zero, and now I have a ton to spare.

Anyway, moving on with the story, Cloud meets up with Tifa at the bar. Again, the English adds so much personality with “These water filters won’t replace themselves. Although, the next batch probably could, if Jessie put her mind to it.” Versus the Japanese which is more like an info dump: “I want to go replace filters. Jessie made them. They’re generic toxic substance removing filters.”

Japanese Remake	English Remake
ティファ　じゃあ　さっそく働く？	Tifa Let’s get down to business, shall we?
ティファ　『JSフィルター』の交換に行きたいんだ	Tifa These water filters won’t replace themselves.
ティファ　ジェシーが作った　汎用毒性物質　除去フィルター	Tifa Although, the next batch probably could, if Jessie put her mind to it.

As they’re making their rounds, Tifa tells Cloud to be more friendly. The Japanese here (愛想 ; aisou; amiability/friendliness) is similar to how the dressmaker in Wall Market described Cloud in the original: 無愛想 (buaisou ; “unsociable, surly” or basically “having no 愛想”).

Also, I just love Cloud’s “I’ve got skills” in the scene after this.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
ティファ　もう少し　愛想よくする？	Tifa Well… You could try being a little nicer.	「なんと！　あんな無愛想なやつがか？」	“What!? A tough lookin guy like that?”
クラウド　おまけ目当てで？　ありえない	Cloud To get free shit? Not my style.

They finish distributing filters and Tifa tells Cloud that he’ll need to make connections if he wants to be a successful mercenary. The Japanese word here is なんでも屋 (nandemoya), referring to someone who does literally any kind of work. We don’t really have a good equivalent for this in English. “Handyman” is somewhat similar, but focuses more on someone who repairs things as opposed to someone who both finds cats for little girls and fights deadly monsters. “Freelancer” could work, but that also doesn’t necessarily imply doing multiple types of jobs. We have the concept of doing “odd jobs” at least, but I’m not sure if there’s really a good noun version of that. “Jack-of-all-trades”? In any case, I feel like “mercenary” does work here, since that fits with Cloud’s aesthetic. He emphasizes that his specialty is fighting, not fetching cats or finding kids; he just begrudgingly does that other stuff because he needs the money (and he’s secretly a softy).

Japanese Remake	English Remake
ティファ　あのね　アイデアがあるんだけど聞く？	Tifa In that case, I’ve got a suggestion. Wanna hear it?
ティファ　本格的になんでも屋を始めるなら　まず　縁をつくるべきだと思う	Tifa If you’re serious about becoming a merc, then you’re going to need to start making connections.
ティファ　ご縁は　お金より大事だから	Tifa “It’s not what you know, but who you know,” y’know?

Tifa and Cloud meet up with Biggs and Wedge, who tell Cloud about the neighborhood watch. Interestingly, Wedge’s line was originally from an NPC in the Sector 5 slums. Here, it’s adapted into a rule/lesson that everyone in the slums knows.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
ウェッジ　もしかして　クラウドさん　入団希望ッスか？	Wedge Oh, hey, Cloud. Looking to join the neighborhood watch?
クラウド　場合によってはな　自警団は　なにをするんだ？	Cloud That depends. What does this neighborhood watch do?
ビッグス　色々あるけど　まず　居住区に紛れ込むモンスターを退治したり	Biggs Umm…lots of stuff, really. But our top priority is taking care of any beasts that wander into town.
ビッグス　住民に自衛法を教えたり　それがメインだ	Biggs That and teaching the locals how to defend themselves.
ウェッジ　自分の身は　自分で守る　これ　スラムの心得ッス	Wedge Like they say: “The only one who’ll look out for you is you.”	「自分の身は自分で守る。　こいつがスラムの常識よ！　そのためにはまず強え武器！　だろ？」	“Take care of yourself. It’s the law of the slums. But to do that, first you need weapons, right?”

If you do all the sidequests, you’ll get an extra scene with Tifa. A couple of Cloud’s lines here are similar to what he says before his flashback at Kalm.

(Mild spoilers for the original post-Midgar story, if that concerns you.)

He talks about how by the time he made it into SOLDIER, the war was already over and there was no need for heroes anymore. Then he hesitates to describe the work he was forced to do. In the original, he just comes out and says that they put down anyone who resisted Shinra. I like him being a little more reluctant to talk about it though, because he’s with Tifa who’s specifically a resistance member.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
クラウド　戦争中　ソルジャーは英雄扱いだった	Cloud Well, when we were kids…everybody wanted to be a SOLDIER, right?
ティファ　うん　毎日　ニュースを見てた	Tifa Yeah, I remember they were on the news every day during the war.
クラウド　でも　俺がソルジャーになった頃には　状況が変わっていたんだ	Cloud Thing is, by the time I finally made it in, they didn’t need heroes anymore.	「それなのにクラス１STに　昇格したのと同時に　戦争が終わってしまった」	“But by the time I made First Class, the war was already over.”
クラウド　憧れていたような仕事はなくて　神羅のために働く　ただの……	Cloud It was nothing like what we’d dreamt of. It was just…working for Shinra. Just…	クラウド「戦争終結後のソルジャーの任務は　神羅に反抗する人たちを……。　ゆううつな仕事が多かったな」	Cloud “After the war it was SOLDIER’s duty to put down any resistance against the Shinra.”
ティファ　ごめん　話したくないよね	Tifa I’m sorry. I know it’s a touchy subject.
クラウド　剣を使う仕事だ	Cloud Not exactly small talk.
クラウド　ひさしぶりに会って　するような話じゃない	Cloud Especially with someone you haven’t seen in a while.
ティファ　わかるよ	Tifa I get it.

Johnny gets some more scenes this go around, this time being introduced as he’s hauled away by Shinra soldiers. In Japanese, Tifa just says she’s going to go help Johnny, possibly because she assumes Cloud wouldn’t want to come, whereas in English she expresses more hesitation, implying that she might still be disturbed over last night’s incident with Marco and isn’t sure that she wants Cloud to come along. This makes a lot of sense, honestly. She hasn’t seen Cloud in forever and he recently had a violent confrontation with one of her acquaintances, so she wouldn’t want to risk that happening again.

Japanese Remake	English Remake
ティファ　ジョニーを助けなくちゃ	Tifa We’ve gotta save him, Cloud!
クラウド　アバランチなのか？	Cloud Is he Avalanche?
ティファ　ちがう	Tifa No.
ティファ　ジョニーは　私たちがアバランチだと　薄々気づいていて	Tifa He doesn’t really know what we do…but he has his suspicions.
ティファ　そして	Tifa And…
ティファ　口が軽いの	Tifa He’s a talker.
ティファ　なんとかして助けなくちゃ　私　行くね	Tifa Actually, you know what…maybe I should go alone.
クラウド　俺も行く	Cloud I’m coming.
ティファ　でも……	Tifa Uh…are you sure?

They rescue Johnny, and he once again leaves town, but under very different circumstances this time. Afterward, you can talk to both of his parents. The mother’s dialogue doesn’t line up much with the original, now showing genuine worry instead of a mix of relief and regret. The father’s dialogue, on the other hand, matches up quite a bit in the Japanese, especially the 若いうちはね　好きなことをやればいいと思います part (roughly, “I think kids should do what they want while they’re young”). E Remake touches up the translation a bit to sound more natural. Also, the “defying the Man” part seems like a nod to an unused line in the original where he admits to being anti-establishment when he was younger.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	E PC
ジョニーの父　息子が急に旅立つと　言いだしましてね	Johnny’s Father My boy up and declared he was leaving town to go on a journey.	「ハッハッ……。　息子はもう旅立ちましたかな？」	“Ha! Ha! …… I wonder if my son’s already left?”
ジョニーの父　若いうちはね　好きなことをやればいい　と思いますよ	Johnny’s Father We only live once. I say while he’s young, he should follow his heart.	「ハッハッ……　若いうちはね　好きなことをやらせてみよう　と思っていても　やっぱり心配なのは、　いけませんなあ」	“We want him to be happy and do other things while he’s young, but we can’t help but worry…”
ジョニーの父　神羅に頭を下げてるだけじゃ　手に入らんものもある	Johnny’s Father Even if it means defying the Man. Playing by the rules only gets you so far.

Cloud and Tifa head back to the bar and Barret calls a meeting downstairs. While waiting for the rest of Avalanche to assemble, Tifa offers to make Cloud a drink like she does in the original (just on a different day). The dialogue choices in particular here line up quite a bit, even in English with the “something hard.” Though this time around instead of getting mad at Cloud for refusing her offer, she just rolls with it and makes one for him anyway, still commenting on how most people have a high opinion of her.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
ティファ　どうぞ　座って	Tifa Grab a seat.	ティファ「どうぞ、すわって」	Tifa “Sit down.”
ティファ　なににしましょう？	Tifa What’ll it be?	ティファ「ねえ……」	Tifa “How about…”
なににしましょう？　　キツイの　　そんな気分じゃない	What’ll it be? 　　Something hard. 　　Not in the mood.	「何かのむ？」　　　いまはそんな気分じゃないな　　　キツイの、くれないか	“…something to drink?” 　　I don’t feel like it 　　Give me something hard
クラウド　今は　そんな気分じゃない	(2) Cloud Not really in the mood right now.
ティファ　では　お客様のイメージで	Tifa But if you were, then maybe…	ティファ「も～う！！」	(1) Tifa “OHH!!”
		「私だってちゃんとお酒ぐらい　つくれるようになったのよ」	“I can make a drink just as good as anyone else.”
クラウド　キツイの　くれないか	(1) Cloud I dunno…something hard and bitter.
(end branch) ティファ　どう？　好きって言ってくれる　お客さん　多いんだ	(end branch) Tifa Well? Most people would say something sweet right about now.	「お客さんだって、　ティファちゃんの　つくるお酒はおいしいよって　いってくれるんだから！」	“Everyone says my drinks taste the best!”

Tifa heads down and Jessie walks in. She brings up the news as she does in the original, and her attitude’s a bit different now than in Chapter 2. The excitement she displays here is more in line with the original than her previous apprehension, even if the dialogue itself isn’t the same.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	E PSX
ジェシー　ニュース　見た？	Jessie Hey! You see the news?	「見てよ、このニュース……。　こんなに爆発してる」	“Hey, look at the news… What a blast.”
ジェシー　『魔晄炉の爆発は　市民の敵　　アバランチの仕業だ』って	Jessie “The reactor bombing was the work of the eco-extremist group ‘Avalanche.'”
ジェシー　ガンガン流れてるの　ゾクゾクするよね	Jessie Public enemy number one! Gets your heart racing, doesn’t it?	ジェシー「でも、私の爆弾の晴れぶたい。　ちょっと、うれしいんだ」	Jessie “Hey, that was my bomb’s debut. Makes me kinda proud.”
ジェシー　顔バレしてないから　ここは安全だろうけど　いろいろ　急がなくちゃ	Jessie They don’t know our faces, so we’re in the clear for now, but we’ll wanna capitalize on this momentum.

After the meeting, Barret decides to cut ties with Cloud. This actually seems to reflect a scene cut from the original, where Barret gives Cloud his money and tells him to get out.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original (cut)	English Original (cut)
バレット　次は　オレたちだけでやることにする　おまえは　仕事探しでもしてろ	Barret We won’t be needing you for this next job. Feel free to look for work elsewhere.
クラウド　元々　そのつもりだ	Cloud Fine by me. That’s how I like it.
クラウド　契約がなければ　手伝う義理はない	Cloud No contract, no obligation.
バレット　そう言うと思ったぜ	Barret Figured you’d say that.
バレット　ほら　残りの報酬だ　気持ち　上乗せしといてやった	Barret Here—the rest of your payment, along with a little extra for your exemplary service.	ほ、報酬はやったんだ。もう用はねぇぞ！	There’s your money. Now get the hell out!
バレット　これで　晴れて契約終了だ	Barret And thus concludes our business.
バレット　さあ　悪いが席を外してくれ　身内だけでやりたいんでな	Barret Gonna have to ask you to leave now. This here’s a private affair.

None of the banter in the bar really matches anything they say in the original, except for maybe Biggs’ continued love of alcoholic drinks.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
ビッグス　んぐんぐんぐ…… 　だは～　ゴクラク～！	Biggs Glug, glug, glug, glug… Ahhh! That hit the spot!	ビッグス「ああ～！！　仕事の後の一杯はこたえらんねぇなぁ」	Biggs “Aaah!! Nothin’ like that first drink after a job.”

Cloud then runs into some hoodlums outside the bar. This scene is fleshing out the idea that Don Corneo is sending his cronies to Sector 7 to find out more about Avalanche, as per Shinra’s orders.

Japanese Remake	English Remake
クラウド　あいつら　なんだ？	Cloud What’s up with them?
あやしげな男　兄ちゃん　近所の人かい？	Hoodlum Hey brother! You from around the way?
クラウド　まあな	Cloud I guess.
あやしげな男　右腕が銃になっている大男を知ってるか？　このあたりに　根城があるらしい	Hoodlum Know a big man with a big gun strapped to his right arm? Heard he’s set up shop somewhere in the neighborhood.
クラウド　どうだろう	Cloud That depends…