FF7 remake trailer

[Aikouka]

I received my copy yesterday, and spent some time with the installation process. The game is two discs, so it takes some time! I haven't really had a chance to play yet though due to being busy dealing with some unfortunate storm damage.

You know what I was reading some impressions about that the past few days. It seems a lot of people are complaining about that, not everyone but a good amount. I think to maximize profit and give themselves more time they want to release it in episodes because it was such a popular game, it makes sense to do it. But yea adding filler in each title like this will get annoying over time.

I sure won't know any different yet but I've got it downloading now in the background on the PS4.

Honestly, I don't think they're really doing it to maximize the profits. It really seems like Square-Enix/Squaresoft has a problem with obsessing over visual quality, and that is something that bit them in the rear when it came to Final Fantasy XIV. I don't know how much you follow Final Fantasy games, but the initial release of the MMO was so bad that the company literally reworked the entire game. The YouTube channel Noclip has a good documentary on the game where its (current) director, Yoshi P, outlined what he saw as some of the original game's biggest mistakes. Not to spoil it, but one of the mistakes listed was... obsessing over visual quality. It makes me wonder if the rest of the company never got the memo!

I mean.. this is pretty much a game that is built out of the section that represents Final Fantasy VII's most linear portion. When you leave Midgar is when the game really opens up to more exploration and such, and that's where this game ends. I did hear that they wanted to spruce up Midgar because they thought it was too linear and that never gave players enough time to explore the area, which is fine.

Although, thinking about it more, does this sort of act in contrast to what has always been the heavier focus of Japanese RPGs or even just the Final Fantasy franchise? At least in my experience, which I'll note is not that expansive, jRPGs usually are known for their heavier focus on narrative versus player choice and exploration like you see in Western RPGs. At least in Final Fantasy, the games usually did include fun/secret content that could be found if you were willing to explore; however, it was never meant to be main content. However, outside of those smaller bits of content, the game focused a lot on the story. So, what happens when you add content that makes you feel like you're meandering instead of progressing?

This whole work from home thing isn't giving me any time to play video games anymore. Good thing I'm off tomorrow. Can't complain too much, I'd rather work 12hrs a day than not at all.

I know what you mean... it's too easy to just get some work in. Makes it a bit had to segment things in your life! I normally leave work at around 6 PM, but when working from home, I've worked as late as like 3 AM.

 

[warcrow]

Cloud in a nutshell

 

[sze5003]

I got to chapter 2 today and that's where I stopped. The combat is pretty simple but you need to know what moves to use, whether it's a spell or move set that would be more efficient. I like that portion of it. Didn't have an issue with controls but some of the things that require a button press you kind of have to position yourself very precisely for the prompt to show up.

The first boss battle was cool and enjoyable and it had a bit of a learning curve for me. Here is where I needed to understand when to use thunder vs force shot or when to switch to cloud for melee damage. Didn't take me too long to get it right even though I ended up dying the first time because I was just pressing buttons with each character and not thinking about strategy so that was expected.

I'm slowly trying to understand the story and what not.

Today and possibly tomorrow are gonna be my wake up early and get some game time in before the gf wakes up because her and I sparingly only play Mario kart and the rest of the day we are working out or doing other things. Being cooped up in the house I think is taking a bigger till on me than I thought.

 

[repoman0]

Cloud in a nutshell

I got a kick out of that part too lol.

I'm in the middle of Chapter 7 right now. I'm enjoying it but I definitely prefer turn-based battles for these types of games. The expanded story and Midgar is neat so far and I'm liking all the characters and voiceovers. Pretty good chance I replay the OG FFVII after I beat this because I can tell I'm going to be bummed I can't go to the over world. Although it's interesting to play it barely remembering the story .. think I was 14 or so when I originally played it.

 

[KentState]

Trying to get into the game, but the acting is just all over the place and distracts from the game. Barret is so over the top in reaction to everything that it's hard not to laugh. And what's with all the random grunting and moaning?

 

[sze5003]

Trying to get into the game, but the acting is just all over the place and distracts from the game. Barret is so over the top in reaction to everything that it's hard not to laugh. And what's with all the random grunting and moaning?

Lol glad you mentioned that. I got to chapter 3 I think and I realized the same thing. Started playing nioh 2 again instead. Once I keep dying in nioh I go back to FF7. I think it does detract from the overall experience.

 

[jpiniero]

The talk about the environment texture quality being real bad in parts is definitely true.

Trying to get into the game, but the acting is just all over the place and distracts from the game. Barret is so over the top in reaction to everything that it's hard not to laugh. And what's with all the random grunting and moaning?

Barret was pretty over the top in the original game, at least from what I remember.

 

[Torn Mind]

I received my copy yesterday, and spent some time with the installation process. The game is two discs, so it takes some time! I haven't really had a chance to play yet though due to being busy dealing with some unfortunate storm damage.



Honestly, I don't think they're really doing it to maximize the profits. It really seems like Square-Enix/Squaresoft has a problem with obsessing over visual quality, and that is something that bit them in the rear when it came to Final Fantasy XIV. I don't know how much you follow Final Fantasy games, but the initial release of the MMO was so bad that the company literally reworked the entire game. The YouTube channel Noclip has a good documentary on the game where its (current) director, Yoshi P, outlined what he saw as some of the original game's biggest mistakes. Not to spoil it, but one of the mistakes listed was... obsessing over visual quality. It makes me wonder if the rest of the company never got the memo!

I mean.. this is pretty much a game that is built out of the section that represents Final Fantasy VII's most linear portion. When you leave Midgar is when the game really opens up to more exploration and such, and that's where this game ends. I did hear that they wanted to spruce up Midgar because they thought it was too linear and that never gave players enough time to explore the area, which is fine.

Although, thinking about it more, does this sort of act in contrast to what has always been the heavier focus of Japanese RPGs or even just the Final Fantasy franchise? At least in my experience, which I'll note is not that expansive, jRPGs usually are known for their heavier focus on narrative versus player choice and exploration like you see in Western RPGs. At least in Final Fantasy, the games usually did include fun/secret content that could be found if you were willing to explore; however, it was never meant to be main content. However, outside of those smaller bits of content, the game focused a lot on the story. So, what happens when you add content that makes you feel like you're meandering instead of progressing?



I know what you mean... it's too easy to just get some work in. Makes it a bit had to segment things in your life! I normally leave work at around 6 PM, but when working from home, I've worked as late as like 3 AM.

The original game had two characters who were "nonessential" to the main story in Yuffie and Vincent but no one would dismiss the spice they add to the canon story. In fact, a truly(my own) cynical take on Wutai is that Godo was willing to sell out his own daughter into sexual slavery to keep the Materia Yuffie stole while also making Cloud's party have no further cause to continue chasing her in Wutai. Due to the humorous portrayal of Yuffie, the extremely "grey" nature of Wutai is not made salient in the minds of most players. Godo is a lying money-grubber and his daughter, while more nationalist, is still like her father.

FFVI already was pushing for a more expansive, non-linear element by turning expectations on their head by having Gestahl die and having Kefka "win" with a massacre to end the "traditional" Final Fantasy experience in that game. The World of Ruin is mostly optional and you only need three characters to finish the game; those are Setzer, Edgar, and Celes. However a lot of the rest of the cast have critical story development in that "optional" part of the game.

In fact, FFVII, to me, feels like a bit like the Witcher but toned down for a lower rating and without the three full "branches"(neutral, humans, non-humans) of story based on how you want ally yourself.

 

[jpiniero]

Did they really do the Cait Sith model for that two second shot?

I got to chapter 2 today and that's where I stopped. The combat is pretty simple but you need to know what moves to use, whether it's a spell or move set that would be more efficient.

The Assess ability is what you are looking for. Pretty handy. You get the materia in Chapter 3.

 

[KentState]

This game is a disappointment the more that I play. Combat is sparse and simplistic with long interludes of exposition while walking. Avalanche sticks out like a sore thumb with Clouds ginormous sword and Barret having a mini gun for a hand, yet no one suspects a thing. At least in the original, the low polygon characters left more to the imagination as they felt more like placeholders that couldn't be fully rendered.

 

[KentState]

 

[jpiniero]

Funny, but had to close it because he does mention story changed spoilers, including at the end. Fighting Sepiroth on the moon does sound ridiculous so I can't blame him for putting it in there.

 

[jpiniero]

Was thinking about it, and it would have been hilarious if they had changed it so that the story completely ends at Midgar. It would have been unexpected for sure and would have justified not putting a subtitle in the game in the first place.

One thing that they did a real good job with is the music. The remixes are pretty good.

 

[jpiniero]

Okay, so I have finished it. The ending does indeed make zero sense. I'm not sure what Square was smoking when they came up with that.

 

[jpiniero]

I completed Chapter 1 on hard. It is... definitely harder even with NG+ chars. Not sure if I will actually complete all 18 chapters on Hard.

I guess they figured that letting you use items would still have been too easy. I died the first time against Scorpion Sentinel when Cloud died and I had no way of reviving him.

 

[jpiniero]

Getting near the end on Hard Mode. Turns out the enemies scale level with you on Normal but on HM it's always at 50 so I can see why the early part can be tough. I think I started at like 35. It is still hard enough that you have to at least put some thought into the Materia setup when fighting some of the bosses. Oh and spamming Prayer.

 

[jpiniero]

Mildly interesting, the game does not have a patch as of yet. That has to be highly unusual for a AAA game these days to not get any patch. At this point I am seriously wondering if they even will even be able to do the port to PC/XB1. Development was pretty obviously dysfunctional, and now throw in the virus, productivity at Square has to be like zero right now.

 

[jpiniero]

Figured I'd bump this thread with Part 2 being announced. Release date implies Early 2024 and is PS5 exclusive.

They are also doing a remaster of the PSP game Crisis Core which is crossplat (including Switch) and coming out "This Winter".