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NPC 4. Midgar's 7th Infantry
Minigame 4. Junon Parade Performance
Another area where the two lists overlap like kismet. I think Junon is (rightfully) thought of as
the
high point of the entire game, and a huge part of it is due to the Midgar 7th Infantry. I've already mentioned the Junon Commander and the Adjutant, but I should at least mention them since they start us off on this journey. Cloud essentially transforms into Emilio Estevez from the Mighty Ducks, tasked to inspire a bunch of misfit soldiers into ship into shape for the President's inauguration.
The personalities are great, from a bunch of Rufus stans arguing in front of a cutout, to a bunch of gossips at a bar, to some lazy bums goofing off. One look at the Captain helmet has them doing their ridiculous march off-screen. It's hilarious and endearing. They're innocent naive goofballs who are unquestioningly devoted to Cloud.
The speech before the march is probably the best Cloud moment in the game, because you can sense that this was probably a dream come true for "real Cloud." Becoming a squad captain, being respected by his troops, giving inspirational speeches. He really gets fired up at the end.
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Then we get to the actual Junon performance, which is like Loveless and the Honeybee Inn dance but better because it has some measure of customization involved. Plus you get that awesome Junon march music in the background. You can choose an easy route or a hard route based on the number of Midgar 7th Infantry you find; if anything I was a little disappointed since I chose the hardest route and messed up a couple times but it didn't really seem to matter. The game is very generous with positive vs. negative reactions. If you get a perfect can you beat Roche for the first award? Serious question.
The game doesn't stop there though. The Midgar 7th actually joins the party for a memorable sequence of battles and let me tell you I protected them with my life. At the end, Cloud has to leave them behind in a legitimately touching scene. At first, the game fakes us out into thinking we'll have to fight them, which would be truly tragic, but in the end their devotion to the Captain pays off, and they salute one another in a scene that truly conjures the end of MGS3.
All in all, from the initial meeting with the Junon Commander, to gaining the approval of her and the masses, to fighting alongside and forging a bond with the squad, it's a sequence that succeeds beautifully in very quickly endearing you to relatively non-important characters. It's honestly a masterclass in storytelling, particularly when juxtaposed with the Rufus assassination/proxy war subplot.
The popular fan theory now is that after the submarine stuff in game 3, the Midgar 7th Infantry will somehow become the crew for the Highwind. It's a perfect idea, which means it probably won't happen, but we can only hope they come back in some form.
Hint for Main Character 2: Future so bright...
while you slept, the world changed