Spoilers For Final Fantasy VII Remake Ahead!
Final Fantasy VII is a game that became dated very quickly. The game was releasꦅed in '97 and its opening missions involved killing security guards and bombing reactors. The heroes of the game were eco-terrorists who committed some heinous acts in the name of saving the planet. It was only a few years later that terrorism dominated the headlines around the globe and it became a lot more problematic to portray such characters as heroes.
The fact that Avalanche were eco-terrorists who blew up buildings has often been considered by fans as one of the reasons why took so long to be remade. Final Fantasy VII Remake is now in the hands of fans and we've seen how the new version of the story deals wit♐h the actions of its characters.
Final Fantasy VII
The bulk of Avalanche's terrorist activities take place at the start of the game. Ba🅠rret and his team blow up Mako Reactor 1 in Midgar and flee from the scene to the Sector 7 Slums. The player sees a few panicked civilians, but there are also people who are unconcerned about the attack. The game doesn't dwell on the civilian casualties at this🐈 point in the story and Avalanche swiftly moves on to their next mission: blowing up Mako Reactor 5. The Shinra Corporation anticipates this move and the reactor is damaged, but not destroyed.
The Shinra Corporation attacks the Sector 7 Pillar in order to frame Avalanche for the destruction of the plate above. As Cloud climbs the tower, he runs into a dying Jessie, who feels that this is their punishment for so many people dying due to their actions. The Final Fantasy VII spin-off media (like On the Way to a Smile and the non-canon Hoshi o Meguru Otome) discuss the ethics of Avalanche's actions in more detail, though these were released long after Final Fantasy VII.
Final Fantasy VII Remake
The repercussions of Avalanche's actions are shown in far greater detail in Final Fantasy VII Remake. After the bombing of Mako Reactor 1, Cloud has to escape through a sector that has been plunged into darkness, due to the power supply being cut off. Cloud has to make his way through a crowd of panicked and scared civilians as emergency workers attempt to do their job among the chaos. People are sitting on the streets in shock, as they wonder aloud if their friends and loved ones made it out alive. This is one scene in which Final Fantasy VII Remake exce🌞ls and it's one of the things that justifies a remake in the first place. The original PlayStation couldn't have handled a scene l𝓀ike this, but the PlayStation 4 brings this moment to life in chilling detail.
The Shinra Corporation milks these incidents for all they're worth in the media and they keep reassuring the public that it will make Avalanche pay for its actions. Jessie once more expresses regret at her actions during her dying moments on the Sector 7 Pillar, as she laments the fact that her bombs caused so much ꦅdestruction and took so many innocent lives.
One major difference is that the Shinra Corporation is a willing participant in these attacks and even made sure that the Mako Reactor 1 was destroyed when the bomb failed to do its job. This is part of a larger plot, as the Shinra Corporation wants to tie Avalanche to Wutai, possibly under the pretense of starting another war. The actions of Avalanche could have further repercussions in later Final Fantasy VII Remake games for this re𒉰ason, with💮 another costly war with Wutai on the cards.