lol! Ah man, thats priceless.
lol /10char
jus another woman to boss poor ol’ Cloud around.
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My one hope is they dont make it linear when it comes to open world exploration… that would be a typical square kind of way to EFF it up.
Been along time since I played the original but I think that in the overworld you did have some freedom of movement. Some was gated tho.
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You absolutely had freedom of movement in original. There were some restrictions based on mode of transportation/condition of the vehicle, but thats about it.
Would not surprise me in the slightest if, for each part of the game, that’s the only area you have access to. This first part is Midgar. I have the feeling for the next release, we won’t be able to even return to Midgar, or wander freely in the open world. I feel like we’re going to be on a fast track to the next point of interest.
I really hope I’m wrong about this, but I just know big companies have a way of making the dumbest decisions with blowout sequels and hyped titles.
Yea all we can do is wait and see and hope.
Kotaku: I Need Much More Of Final Fantasy VII Remake’s Dancing Mini-Game.
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Lol I haven’t encountered this part yet
I am probably in the minority here but I found the combat mechanics a bit tedious and the mechanics lacking depth.
Maybe I am getting old but I don’t like how much success relies on your physical playing skills rather then you build design skills. What I have always loved about JRPGs (games in general really) is complexity and depth to mechanics and for me FF7R is a little lacking in that.
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How far in are you?
Yes, the classic turn based combat seems to focus more on the strategic setup and lets you have some time to think about your tactic. The new gameplay keeps you busy all the time.
Probably a balancing necessity, but you cannot use summon materia, when you want to, but have to wait for the entity inside to stir. Maybe that changes later?
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Lol i didnt want to spoil that part, but since the cat is out of the bag, Im 15 hours in and that aspect of summons hasnt changed. I dont mind it, but I do miss the old way simultaneously, however i also enjoy how the summon fights alongside you for a while and that you can issue special attack commands to it before it executes its Ultimate upon exiting from battle.
Pretty far like 30 hours in and like Chapter 11.
Honestly finding it a bit of a chore. Looking forward more to the Secret of Mana 3 remake coming out in a couple of days.
Played the hell out of the Demo.
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Yeah that looks really good! Ill be picking it up as well.
The Let’s Play I was watching ended recently, and I also finished playing the original game (on my old Playstation - yes, it still works). So, I thought I share a few of my musings. Beware: spoilers ahead for both games.
It has been a questionable decision to split the game in parts
During my playthrough I kept wondering, how I would split the game. (Number of parts is actually not confirmed yet.) The issue is that the whole thing is the story of Cloud Strife and only he has a proper arc. The further you advance the more dire the situation gets. You win your boss fights, but none of them end on a high note, so that there could be a cut.
In the original the Midgar section has a lot of action, but Cloud’s arc does not advance a single bit. You are just being introduced to the mystery, which took me eight hours this time. The remake just covers the events there and that takes about 40 hours (your milage may vary). So, Cloud looks really bland, because beyond learning how to high-five and crack cool jokes there is no progress. Well, in the four(?) days in Midgar he and the others learn a truck load of combat skills, but that is not the progress I mean.
The new content for old and new side characters does not help
If Square is not able to release the remake in one game, why give non-party members so much room? One of the things they could have improved over the original was the story of Barret, Tifa, Red XIII and even Aerith. We never learn why Barret knows, that the extraction of Mako Energy hurts the planet. How did he and Tifa meet? Why was Red XIII in Midgar in the first place? In Cosmo Canyon (later) nobody seemed to miss him. How comes Aerith is the only living descendant of the Cetra? If their culture disappeared 2000 years ago, couldn’t there be other people who have a Cetra among their ancestors?
Likewise for the Shinra executives and the Turks. What makes Shinra think Aerith can help them with the Promised Land? They only seem to cling to a faint hope. Why are they so aggressive in general? Aerith’s mother says the planet is still recovering from the crisis 2000 years ago. If therefore the land is generally harsh and barren, Shinra would have good reasons for acting like they do.
Instead the remake features a ton of side stories, which will have no meaning in the long run, and spotlight side characters instead of the already large cast of main characters.
Even worse Sephiroth appears frequently but there is little to no explanation why he is the main villain. They totally waste him.
Neither does the addition of the Whispers
Other than the above mentioned padding this is a totally new element and shall apparently be a framework for all parts of the remake. They are watchers of fate and are supposed to preserve the original chain of events. In the end you decide to oppose them and you literally fight destiny. As if this isn’t already ridiculous on its own, you also do this long before Cloud has done any of his soul searching, which is an integral part of his arc in the original. I also wonder what would have been achieved, if you lost the fight against destiny. How can you fulfill your predestined fate, if you are killed then?!
In the end Aerith knows what this is all about - is she the one keeping information to herself instead of Cloud this time? The Whispers seem to be a metaphor for the desire of the fans to stay as close to the original story as possible, whereas the developers would like deviate from it. To me this is such a convoluted way of telling this, and I also feel insulted and being cheated. If they wanted to tell the story differently they should have done so from the start. As said above there is good reason for doing so.
During the game you have no agency when dealing with the Whispers. You are just supposed to find out what they are doing, but for the most part they are a deus ex machina. If they had made them part of the gameplay and you had to work towards changing your destiny, that would have been interesting, but maybe better used in a different game.
The remake has a very different feel
The original game has a comical look - SD character models - and features a lot of exaggerated behavior. Sometimes it feels like a parody. This and the fast pace allows them to get away with flaws and plot holes. It also has a melancholic vibe and an air of doom and gloom. And somehow this has worked very well and resonated with a lot of players.
The remake with its high-fidelity graphics and more naturalistic look fails to deliver the comical look. The overacting feels forced, and Cloud’s cool act either wears you out or makes him appear as the only sane person amongst the other sometimes annoying party members and many obnoxious NPCs.
The slums turned out unusual. There is an orphanage, a neighborhood watch (to protect you from monsters), a doctor, your resident flower girl supplies him with medicinal herbs, and they seem to get along fine without any supervision. Even Shinra installed giant daylight lamps so that they do not sit in the dark all the time.
In the end some people survive, which die in the original, and there have been speculations if others will live longer, too. In an attempt to end on a high note, the first installment provides hope, whereas in the original things are still dire even after the final boss fight.
TL; DR - spoilerfree conclusion
The remake is by no means a replacement for the original. A lot of things can only be understood, if you played the original. The combat has certainly improved and become more challenging / engaging. This has turned out good, but you need to be able to ignore the poor storytelling.
Im gonna read through all you wrote as soon as I have time but I have to agree the one thing i read what you wrote about was the whispers. The first couple time, it was kinda cool… as the game progressed, however, i started to realize how the developers were using the whispers and what they were using them for, and they became like a jar jar binks kind of thing to me. Total waste of time and an insult to the fans. Laziness basically, is how i interpreted it. But the game is basically a different game entirely, set in the FF7 universe, so as its FF7 and im an FF7 fan, i enjoyed it overall, as i have with every Star Wars movie, despite some of them being largely terrible. Whenever someone creates a unique world or universe, i love to see every perspective of it that i can, and i guess thats how i felt about the remake.