u/Clode02

I played through Remake and DLC, and I just got to the Gongaga reactor in Rebirth and I am genuinely in love with the game. I love how it somehow is both so emotional and also the goofiest shit ever made at the same time.

That said, I've been itching to experience the original to see where it started, what was always there and what is new. I figure the whole thing with whispers is they're supposed to keep the story from deviating from the original, but I have no clue what exactly they're trying to make happen and I'm very curious in that regard as well (not looking for answers to this, just an example).

I saw they recently put the game on steam, but reviews aren't great with some recommending to mod it, so I wonder if there's a better port, if I should just go for emulating the ps1 version, or if the steam one is fine, I'm not even against a few qol/fix mods.

Also, should I wait for part 3 of the remake and complete the story with the full remake trilogy first or do you think catching up on the og first is better?

TL;DR: Played Remake, halfway (?) through Rebirth, which version of the OG is best to play to catch up on it?

I'm blind on this game (haven't played the OG FFVII either) and haven't been plaing too long, just got to Bill's Ranch and got the quest to get the Chocobo from Billy, so no spoilers please :). I noticed that, so far, most of the contributions during dialogues with npcs came from Aerith and Tifa, with Barret very rarely chiming in.

I noticed that I also always had both Tifa and Aerith in the active party when I interacted with people (I'm lowkey struggling to understand Red XIII's fighting style and Barret never felt very engaging in Remake), so I was wondering if it's a coincidence, or if it actually matters who you bring into a conversation.

I know that the others are still right there, just the fact they've been silent made me suspicious is all.