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[#Phonepunk#]

there is no argument, however, that everyone asked them to NOT change the story. that is undeniable that we all asked that for nearly 20 years

You are projecting your own expectations on tens of millions of people.

I got the game when it came out on PC in the 90s and not once in my decades of waiting did I expect a remake to be a 1:1 copy with nothing changed. I’m sorry but not a single work of art I have every seen that was remade had nothing changed. That’s not how art works.

It’s an unreasonable and frankly childish demand to have tbh

 

[Rean no Kiseki]

You are projecting your own expectations on tens of millions of people.

I got the game when it came out on PC in the 90s and not once in my decades of waiting did I expect a remake to be a 1:1 copy with nothing changed. I’m sorry but not a single work of art I have every seen that was remade had nothing changed. That’s not how art works.

It’s an unreasonable and frankly childish demand to have tbh

Eh take comfort in the fact that the Remake was a success and no amount of outcry is going to change that, and secondly no game is 100% or even 75% loved by all who play it even the original back in 97 was met with naysayers.

As I've stated before in this thread the original is on every device known to man in 2020 purists can go play it if the want in its unchanged state.

P. S they won't cause it's a lot more fun to shit on poeple's fun and this IS the Internet where your favorite something is the worst thing evaaaah!

 

[DryPancakes]

The whispers didn't want Cloud to fight Sephiroth so early, so with Sephiroth moving to fight them at the end of the remake, that caused the ultimate Whisper Harbinger to come out and subsequently be defeated, which gave Sephiroth more power.

I'm very reluctant to accept any of that as insteresting and even part of the canon since that none of that was even hinted at possible before, the most esoteric thing 7 had that I can think of is the idea that some people can navigate the lifestream after death, but now we have timelines and fate ghosts and time travel, my problem are not the changes, but that the changes seem too extreme and incoherent with the universe we already know, it's fine if we have time travel in 8 since it's a brand new universe with specific rules, but introducing that element now to 7 starts diluting this universe with new gimmicks, remember when Hojo uploaded his brain to the internet? it's canon now, it's mysterious and surprising, that doesn't mean I have to like it.

Besides I really don't trust SE introducing new elements to stablished stroies, especially time travel:

XIII-2: New time travel story out of nowhere (I don't care much for that universe but it's such a drastic departure it's almost unrecognizable as the same game, LR even more so)
3rd Birthday: Main plot is time travel now for some reason, we all know how that turned out.
KH3: More time travel and timeline shenanigans, this game was already crazy so who cares, but Nomura got bad habits from it.
XV: Even in the same game we are introduced to a very late time travel plot device to fix a gameplay problem, the writers really coulnd't think of a best solution, so hey, time travel, why not.

Time travel and timelines have always been a cheap writing gimmick, unles the story is designed from the begining to work with those elements, it's a lazy excuse to keep padding and "fixing"stories.

As long as it's not a case of infinite realities, then the world still has meaning, limitation, and consequence.

I would argue one more timeline already removed all menaing and consequence for the original timeline, which is the one we care about, they basically abandoned the orginal game, the one we like, to hop into a brand new one, kind of insulting if you ask me.

 

[Hudo]

Does this temporary exclusivity deal also include all the other upcoming parts?
Bit tired of the practice of temporary third-party exclusives just because Sony are unable to do their own (J)RPG.

 

[Fbh]

Nice to see this still active.

I have to say, now that some months have passed and the initial hype is over, I really enjoyed most of the game and so far It's still my GOTY. It's definitely flawed with the hyper linear levels, constant forced walking, meh sidequests and inconsistent visuals. But I still enjoyed revisiting the world, the visuals are still mostly great, I absolutely loved the combat system (in that regard 7Remake >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The original) and it has some of the coolest boss battles in any JRPG I've played.

As for the story changed and additions. Some of them I liked, like expanding Jessie and friends a bit. A also didn't mind some of the obvious padding in the form of extended or new dungeons because I loved the gameplay.
The ending though was disappointing. It deviated too much from the original plot, seems like it will just add a bunch of unnecessary convoluted stuff and overall I didn't like the inclusion of the phantoms. The whole end segment just felt weirdly out of place, you have this one coherent story and then after the motorway battle it's like the characters (Aerith in particular) change and start talking about fighting fate and whatnot.

But still really hyped for the next chapter. As long as they ease up a bit with the linearity and forced walking and continue with the awesome combat and nice bottles I'm all in.

Does this temporary exclusivity deal also include all the other upcoming parts?
Bit tired of the practice of temporary third-party exclusives just because Sony are unable to do their own (J)RPG.

Officially, as far as I know, it was only this part.
But then again Sony is still spending on time exclusives like FFXVI so you can be sure they will at least offer Square some money to make the next chapters timed exclusives too.

 

[Thabass]

You are projecting your own expectations on tens of millions of people.

I got the game when it came out on PC in the 90s and not once in my decades of waiting did I expect a remake to be a 1:1 copy with nothing changed. I’m sorry but not a single work of art I have every seen that was remade had nothing changed. That’s not how art works.

It’s an unreasonable and frankly childish demand to have tbh

If you went into this thinking the story wouldn't change at all, then I don't know what you expected. At the very least, we have something we can look forward too when the next game(s) release. Personally, I'm glad they're changing it up. It IS a REMAKE after all. Nothing was going to really be the same. It just needed to be similar.

 

[Kev Kev]

I'm fine with the story changes. I was never opposed to them making changes either. So don't go saying "we all" please and thank you.

lol, excuse me

*ahem*

almost all of us

You are projecting your own expectations on tens of milli-

oh no no no no no you can stop right fucking there lol

no way are you guys going to change the narrative on this one. nearly everyone in the gaming community who wanted ffvii remake made it crystal fucking clear that we did not want any chanegs to the story. we wanetd a remake. no one was out there picketing for story changes, bc most of us didnt want that. not even going to entertain the idea that im projecting, bc i was here along with alot of you mfers and we all just wanted the same story to be told, exactly how it used to be, with some liberties and changes made to the gameplay. thats it! lol

 

[the_master]

lol, excuse me

*ahem*

almost all of us



oh no no no no no you can stop right fucking there lol

no way are you guys going to change the narrative on this one. nearly everyone in the gaming community who wanted ffvii remake made it crystal fucking clear that we did not want any chanegs to the story. we wanetd a remake. no one was out there picketing for story changes, bc most of us didnt want that. not even going to entertain the idea that im projecting, bc i was here along with alot of you mfers and we all just wanted the same story to be told, exactly how it used to be, with some liberties and changes made to the gameplay. thats it! lol

I want the same overall story, witht he wars, levels and meteor but I don't mind if they tweak, expand and add some more. Even what they have done with Sephirot has not bothered me. for this remake I just with they had let us play a bit more ont he upper levels of Midgar, yes they may be more expensive to make, but they are way cooler.

 

[diffusionx]

I bought this on sale for $25 and am looking forward to sinking some time into it over the holiday break.

 

[trufflepigg]

now that the dust has settled it's obvious this game would have been SOOOOO much better as a complete game, like a highlight reel of the original FF7, complete story, faithful remake, new battle system...sure, I can take it or leave it
The game is still great, regardless of the changes and bloat, and getting 1/10th of the original game, it's still an 8/10 game in my books but ultimately it's not what I dreamed of when it was announced

 

[Lethal01]

lol, excuse me
*ahem*
almost all of us

You are projecting, Most people aren't expecting or wanting a 1:1 carbon copy of the original.

People were against bad changes. But whenever there was talk of a remake what I would see is people constantly asking for things like, Getting to explore the midgar plates more, Getting a realtime kingdom hearts style battle system, Getting to play as Zack more.

I'm sure there were tons of groups and forums that were saying how if anything is changed they would hate it, but that's not the norm.

 

[Kev Kev]

You are projecting, Most people aren't expecting or wanting a 1:1 carbon copy of the original.

People were against bad changes. But whenever there was talk of a remake what I would see is people constantly asking for things like, Getting to explore the midgar plates more, Getting a realtime kingdom hearts style battle system, Getting to play as Zack more.

I'm sure there were tons of groups and forums that were saying how if anything is changed they would hate it, but that's not the norm.

you are putting words in my mouth. i didnt say 1:1. i said same story. everyone said dont fuck with the story and they did.

 

[Rentahamster]

however...

almost everyone asked them to not touch the story, and they did: not great!

the game is still good, but it would have been soooo much better had they not changed/added to the story. and i dont understand why you cant just say "oh ok, i see what youre saying. sucks to be you!" and move on. instead you defend them for doing the one thing that we all asked them not to do. and i do not understand that.

We didn't all ask them not to do that. Additionally the things they changed amount to about 5% of the story, which is pretty minimal as far as your average remake goes. Much of those changes are also additions that flesh out the world more and add backstory that wasn't in the original game. Much of those additions were stuff that they left on the cutting room floor 20 years ago because they didn't have time to put it all in. Maybe more things will inevitably change in the next parts due to the butterfly effect, but nearly everything in the first chapter of FF7R is the same as the original, with matching character traits, tones, and themes.

In other words, I disagree that "almost everyone asked them not to touch the story" since that is pretty unrealistic both in terms of fan request and producing a deliverable "new and fresh and reimagined/remade" product. I also think that the amount of dislike you have for the story changes is disproportional to how much they actually changed it.

 

[Lethal01]

you are putting words in my mouth. i didnt say 1:1. i said same story. everyone said dont fuck with the story and they did.

I meant the story being 1:1, people were constantly asking for more and more means different.

 

[sid2vicious]

you are putting words in my mouth. i didnt say 1:1. i said same story. everyone said dont fuck with the story and they did.

Who's this "everyone" you speak of? If you mean contrarians or haters, they were never going to like the game either way.

 

[Ixion]

it would have been soooo much better had they not changed/added to the story. and i dont understand why you cant just say "oh ok, i see what youre saying. sucks to be you!" and move on. instead you defend them for doing the one thing that we all asked them not to do. and i do not understand that.

lol C'mon dude, you're giving your opinion and then asking me to stop giving my opinion. As for what you're specifically saying about how there is no logical argument for the changes since the game has "Remake" in the name, there are a bunch of arguments. The main one is that artists don't just want to meet expectations. They want to surprise you. Some people will look at a surprise negatively, while others look at it positively. It's a risk, but that's what they wanted to do. And they did that while still providing a very faithful remake for the bulk of the game.

If you look at the critical reviews for this game, you'll see there are some critics who mention "questionable story changes", but there's many others who praised the devs for "redefining what the word Remake means" and how the game went further than what they asked for and expected. And based on what I've seen around the internet from fans, there's been a similar mix of responses. I've come across many fans who are really excited about what the new direction means.

I'm very reluctant to accept any of that as insteresting and even part of the canon since that none of that was even hinted at possible before, the most esoteric thing 7 had that I can think of is the idea that some people can navigate the lifestream after death, but now we have timelines and fate ghosts and time travel, my problem are not the changes, but that the changes seem too extreme and incoherent with the universe we already know, it's fine if we have time travel in 8 since it's a brand new universe with specific rules, but introducing that element now to 7 starts diluting this universe with new gimmicks, remember when Hojo uploaded his brain to the internet? it's canon now, it's mysterious and surprising, that doesn't mean I have to like it.

You mention the lifestream as if it's just a blurb in the original game. It's the most fundamental aspect of the story, and it's about how the planet is alive and made up of all the souls on the planet. And a vital part of the story is how Aerith is an ancient being who can communicate with the living planet force, and then we have the villain Sephiroth who was desperately trying to merge with it to become an all-powerful deity. And finally, Sephiroth's whole plan was based on how the lifestream would emerge and act as a NATURAL CORRECTING FORCE when damage is done (so he could merge with it). Sound a lot like the whispers and their purpose?

And to tie it in even further, it's the above two characters, Aerith and Sephiroth, who have the connection with the whispers in the remake. So you can think of the whispers as a similar part of the planet's living force, but they focus on correcting time instead of correcting physical damage.

XIII-2: New time travel story out of nowhere (I don't care much for that universe but it's such a drastic departure it's almost unrecognizable as the same game, LR even more so)

I 100% agree that FFXIII-2 handled time-travel very poorly. I had to stop playing that game 3/4 of the way through because of how time travel ruined any sense of meaning in the game with there being so many different versions of every location. But the difference with the remake is the use of just a small number of set timelines. And we don't really even see the other timelines until the very end. So as you said, it really depends on how Part 2 develops the plot. And I certainly have more confidence in the FF7R team than I do in the FF13 team due to the quality levels of the original games in each series.

I would argue one more timeline already removed all menaing and consequence for the original timeline, which is the one we care about, they basically abandoned the orginal game, the one we like, to hop into a brand new one, kind of insulting if you ask me.

That's not the case though because this new timeline looks to have been triggered by the original Sephiroth's actions. So it was the culmination of the original timeline's events that led to this new one. There's a carryover. It's not like everything was just completely wiped and restarted.

 

[EverythingsOverrated]

The beauty of the original FF7 was that it sat somewhere between realism and fantasy - even more so than FF6. I remember a lot of people that didn't give a shit about JRPGs got into FF7 partially due to the fact that it was less fairies and crystals and more akin to something in a modern (at the time) sci-fi flick mixed with final fantasy.

The whole time travel/multiple dimension stuff completely ruins that balance, especially the hard turn right onto the goofball highway in the last 2 or so hours (the whole Barrett dying and coming back was laughably bad)..

I remember YEARS ago someone at Square was talking about how doing an FF7 remake beat for beat would be way too expensive to make with current graphics. I'm pretty sure that's the main reason for the new story twist (and the episodic format) it basically gives them a way to omit tons of stuff in the original that would be more pricey tackle. Something like Condor Mountain was a really cool diversion in the original game, but I really doubt it makes it into the remake at all. With the goofy time travel stuff they can just hand wave it away.

I was on board with the concept of having the story fleshed out, but I think they did a kinda shit job of that as well. In the original, the opening Midgar stuff was what, 6-8 hours? I don't feel like I learned anything significant about the original characters in the 35 hours of FF7R. There were some flashes of potential early in the game when you go topside and meet Jesse's mom and learn about her dad. Then you go and fight a bunch of repetitive enemies in an overdrawn unexciting battle where you're just outside the warehouse while Jesse does the fun stuff. A total microcosm of how they missed the target with this game as a whole.

 

[Lethal01]

I remember YEARS ago someone at Square was talking about how doing an FF7 remake beat for beat would be way too expensive to make with current graphics. I'm pretty sure that's the main reason for the new story twist (and the episodic format) it basically gives them a way to omit tons of stuff in the original that would be more pricey tackle. Something like Condor Mountain was a really cool diversion in the original game, but I really doubt it makes it into the remake at all. With the goofy time travel stuff they can just hand wave it away.

Nah, they made changes because they wanted to add more and give new surprises. They solved the problem of how expensive it would be to maintain the scale they want by turning it into a multipart sereis.

 

[Ixion]

The beauty of the original FF7 was that it sat somewhere between realism and fantasy - even more so than FF6. I remember a lot of people that didn't give a shit about JRPGs got into FF7 partially due to the fact that it was less fairies and crystals and more akin to something in a modern (at the time) sci-fi flick mixed with final fantasy.

The whole time travel/multiple dimension stuff completely ruins that balance, especially the hard turn right onto the goofball highway in the last 2 or so hours (the whole Barrett dying and coming back was laughably bad)..

I remember YEARS ago someone at Square was talking about how doing an FF7 remake beat for beat would be way too expensive to make with current graphics. I'm pretty sure that's the main reason for the new story twist (and the episodic format) it basically gives them a way to omit tons of stuff in the original that would be more pricey tackle. Something like Condor Mountain was a really cool diversion in the original game, but I really doubt it makes it into the remake at all. With the goofy time travel stuff they can just hand wave it away.

I was on board with the concept of having the story fleshed out, but I think they did a kinda shit job of that as well. In the original, the opening Midgar stuff was what, 6-8 hours? I don't feel like I learned anything significant about the original characters in the 35 hours of FF7R. There were some flashes of potential early in the game when you go topside and meet Jesse's mom and learn about her dad. Then you go and fight a bunch of repetitive enemies in an overdrawn unexciting battle where you're just outside the warehouse while Jesse does the fun stuff. A total microcosm of how they missed the target with this game as a whole.

I get what you're saying, but the original FF7 does have more spiritual / fantasy elements show up the further you get into the game. And Midgar only took about 5 hours. Now you have 40 hours of Midgar and it's a standalone game. Yeah the fantasy might be increased, but the amount of Midgar in general is also greatly increased at a higher ratio.

This basically comes down to the fact that the devs are taking a portion of the original game and making a full, standalone Final Fantasy game based off that outline. So things are re-worked to accomplish that, which means the inclusion of summons, the fantasy/spirituality, Sephiroth, and the cosmic mind-fuck ending revelations that most Final Fantasy games have. And I can understand not liking what that means, but personally I'm appreciating this game as it's own thing more on a second playthrough, whereas my first playthrough involved me looking at it through the original lens more (I liked it originally, but now I like it...a lot).

 

[EverythingsOverrated]

Nah, they made changes because they wanted to add more and give new surprises. They solved the problem of how expensive it would be to maintain the scale they want by turning it into a multipart sereis.

If that's the case then we're in for a 5-10 part game. Are they going to massively expand Midgar and keep the rest of the games scale about the same? Doubt it. Are they going to expand the rest of the game in a way similiarly to the Midgar stuff? No chance. When it comes down to it, to say I lack confidence of them pulling it off would be a massive understatement - which is interesting because I would've said almost the exact opposite after playing the demo.

Having said that, I'm still interested in where this thing will go, there's just absolutely zero chance that I buy part 2 at full price.

I get what you're saying, but the original FF7 does have more spiritual / fantasy elements show up the further you get into the game. And Midgar only took about 5 hours. Now you have 40 hours of Midgar and it's a standalone game. Yeah the fantasy might be increased, but the amount of Midgar in general is also greatly increased at a higher ratio.

This basically comes down to the fact that the devs are taking a portion of the original game and making a full, standalone Final Fantasy game based off that outline. So things are re-worked to accomplish that, which means the inclusion of summons, the fantasy/spirituality, Sephiroth, and the cosmic mind-fuck ending revelations that most Final Fantasy games have. And I can understand not liking what that means, but personally I'm appreciating this game as it's own thing more on a second playthrough, whereas my first playthrough involved me looking at it through the original lens more (I liked it originally, but now I like it...a lot).

Just increasing the amount of Midgar doesn't offset the absolute silly fanfic/c-tier anime goofball stuff that's been shoehorned in. I'm all for weird shit in JRPGs, but this all felt out of place and forced.

 

[Rentahamster]

Anime goofball shit in Japanese RPGs? How absurd!

 

[WalterSobchak]

Playing the original right now . The remake seems so unappealing to me . I doubt I will ever play it. Wish they had kept the turn based combat , but i am probably a minority on that one.

 

[Rentahamster]

I doubt I will ever play it.

You didn't even try it?

 

[Celcius]

Just finished it. Not only is this my game of the year but it's also my game of the previous generation.
It's been a long time since a game made my jaw drop but I was constantly amazed throughout the game with how they were able to recreate everything. I can't wait for the next episode and look forward to having my mind blown with what they can achieve with PS5 hardware.
I also found myself laughing on many occasions and they did a really great job with expanding the script. I was especially impressed with how they expanded the role of characters that previously had very minor roles.

Spoiler

I'm not sure how I feel about them adding the whispers, but I'm looking forward to seeing what they end up doing with it down the line

But anyways, the original FF7 is my favorite RPG of all time and I really enjoyed the remake as well.

 

[Celcius]

Now that I'm doing the post-game content, I'm not a huge fan of how I keep having to jump between chapters and replaying sometimes long sections of the story just to get back to a certain point that I need to visit. I'm not sure how much more I can be bothered to do...
I kinda wish that

Spoiler

after beating the game, you were free to just roam around as you please and still had access to go anywhere

 

[Ixion]

Now that I'm doing the post-game content, I'm not a huge fan of how I keep having to jump between chapters and replaying sometimes long sections of the story just to get back to a certain point that I need to visit. I'm not sure how much more I can be bothered to do...
I kinda wish that

Spoiler

after beating the game, you were free to just roam around as you please and still had access to go anywhere

That just wouldn’t make sense though. Those last few chapters are all about how you’re trying to somehow sneak to the upper plate, infiltrate Shinra HQ, then rescue Shinra’s greatest hostage, and then escape the city. Wouldn’t make sense for the characters to get to the edge of the highway and then go “Hmm, let’s mosey on back”.

I agree it’s not ideal, but at least they did give us the ability to replay specific chapters (or the whole game) with your existing characters. And you can skip cut-scenes unlike some other Final Fantasies.

Personally, I just chose to replay the whole game with my current characters and make sure to do all the side-stuff this time. And I also don’t care about trophies, so I’m not doing some of the more annoying stuff people have to do for that. I just wanted to beat all the quests and get all the summons this time.

 

[Celcius]

True
I spent most of yesterday doing post game stuff and enjoying it. Today I’ll probably

Spoiler

fight bahamut

and then I may stop after that

 

[Celcius]

I made a ton of progress today:

Mastered all magic materia
Obtained all summons
Got all lv 2 limit breaks
Completed all the coliseum stuff
Hit lv 50 with all characters
Took down a Malboro

I think I'm pretty much done for now

Spoiler

I don't feel like doing all the stuff required to fight Pride & Joy... I hear Bahamut is a tougher right anyway

 

[Ixion]

Just beat my second play-through, and this time I beat all the quests and summons. Some random thoughts:

• God damn. Those last 4 chapters are fucking top-notch. Worth the price of admission alone.
• Hell, just the start of Chapter 16 is worth the price of admission alone. Seeing the shinra building at night will all that surrounding cyberpunk landscape is a sight to behold.
• The last chapter, even if you don't like the story changes, you have to admit is epic as hell.
• I've seen some people talk about how they like to skip the bike sections on subsequent playthroughs (which the game allows you to do), but those are some of my favorite parts of the game. Don't know why people wouldn't like them. Especially the sequence in the last chapter, including the run-in with Motorball. That honestly might be my favorite part of the game.
• Out of the three big newly added sections (Jessie mission, Underground lab, and Leslie mission), it's really only the Leslie section that I think should definitely have been cut:
  • The Jessie chapter has a bike section (which I like, as mentioned above), it has that wonder-filled part on the upper-plate with the great music and backdrop, and some good development of the Avalanche crew. The final part at the Shinra base feels like the most unnecessary part, but overall it's a good chapter with a lot of great moments.
  • The underground lab isn't the most necessary chapter, but it does tease the Shinra experiments (which Cloud uses as his main reason to convince Aerith's mom of the rescue mission), and it also teases one of the better side-quests (the Behemoth). And it gives Barrett some shine. So also a pretty good chapter.
  • However, the whole Leslie section in Chapter 14 is lame. Out of all the locations to have you visit a second time, the sewers would have to be the last one I'd pick, but that's where you go. And Leslie's whole backstory is just really generic and forced. Only good thing about this section is the scene with Corneo.
• I didn't get Leviathan and Bahamut on my first playthrough, and getting them this time was a lot of fun. Not only is fighting the summons cool in itself, but you get to fight summon with summon. Having Leviathan go up against Bahamut for example, or Ifrit against Leviathan, is some badass shit.
• On that same note, it was also epic summoning the true Bahamut against that false Bahamut at the end of the game, with my Bahamut ending the duel with Mega Flare. Awesome.
• It was interesting to watch Aerith on the second playthrough now that we know she was knowledgeable of the timeline the whole time. A lot of subtle hints sprinkled throughout her dialogue.
• As for Sephiroth, I definitely like most of his appearances, but I agree he's shown a bit too much. It's really just two appearances in the first half that felt kinda lame (the scene in the next-door apartment and the scene in the Sector 5 lost boys area). His intro scene where you follow him through the flames is badass, and basically 95% of the stuff he does towards the end of the game is cool. Also, his scene with Cloud after the plate collapse was creepy and well-done.
• The side-quests certainly have room for improvement in the next installment, but they aren't as bad as people make them out to be:
  • A good portion of them are legitimately funny, like the ones with Johnny, the gym bros (and gym trannies), the one with Kyrie, the one with the jukebox, etc. The first set of quests in Chapter 3 are the worst ones (which are none of the quests I just mentioned).
  • Two of the side-quests had nice teases when you were playing the main story. One of which was the roaring Behemoth that you hear in the underground labs that leave you thinking "wtf was that?", and then there's the Corneo stashes sprinkled around different areas that leave you wondering how you'll eventually get into those.
  • You have the summon battles that I mentioned above
  • Collecting all the music discs is cool, especially for a big music fan like me
  • And lastly, you have the Coliseum, which is a fun way to grind. I especially like how each stage of the 5-stage fight has a different song. One stage will have some metal, another some bangin techno, and another might have some epic orchestral stuff for example.
• On that note, when you beat all the side-quests you get an Elemental materia (which gives your melee attacks an elemental effect). I already had one of those, but after getting the second materia I gave Cloud the fire element and Tifa the lightning element. Having Cloud go around with a lit up fire sword that burns everyone up while also having Tifa go around with electrified fists that cause lightning bolts all over the place....is just so satisfying and cool to watch.
• On my second playthrough I had Cloud stick with the Buster Sword the entire game. None of his other swords look as cool, and the buster sword is just so iconic for FF7. I think that move alone definitely made me enjoy the game a little more than last time since Cloud's sword is center-screen most of the game.
• Lastly, I just want to mention how well-done the credits are. Seeing highlights of the story while Nobuo's classic themes play is a great way to end things. Really makes you appreciate the adventure you just went on.

I made a ton of progress today:

Spoiler

I don't feel like doing all the stuff required to fight Pride & Joy... I hear Bahamut is a tougher right anyway

I haven't fought Pride & Joy (saving that as the capstone of my Hard Mode play-through that I'll do next time), but I did beat Bahamut. The trick with Bahamut is to put Revival Earings on one or two of your characters. The main issue with him is that he Mega Flares you after a while, which kills all your characters regardless of HP and status effects. But if you have the Revival Earrings on, that character will auto-revive and then you can revive the others and keep on fighting.

 

[Dacon]

Playing the original right now . The remake seems so unappealing to me . I doubt I will ever play it. Wish they had kept the turn based combat , but i am probably a minority on that one.

I really love the original FFVII, it's my favorite game of all time.

What shocked me is how much more I enjoyed the combat in FFVII Remake, best part of the game barring the obnoxious flying enemies and annoying cutscenes during boss battles that can cancel your actions.

For all of the dumb changes they made to FFVII in this fake remake, the combat wasn't one of the bad ones.

 

[Ixion]

I really love the original FFVII, it's my favorite game of all time.

What shocked me is how much more I enjoyed the combat in FFVII Remake, best part of the game barring the obnoxious flying enemies and annoying cutscenes during boss battles that can cancel your actions.

For all of the dumb changes they made to FFVII in this fake remake, the combat wasn't one of the bad ones.

Yeah, after playing this game twice now, I'd have to say this is the best combat in the series, even over FFX (which is definitely the best classic-style combat). It really just feels like the combat we've all envisioned in our heads for the longest time. Enemies on the field, real-time action combat with a ton of pizzaz, the need to switch between the characters (which something like FF12 just puts on auto-pilot), and the balanced necessity of both hacking/slashing mixed with tactical ability/spell selection (along with the slowdown which helps with tactics and also just looks awesome with all the particle effects).

I'll also note that the pacing of battle frequency is excellent. Older Final Fantasy games can be pretty ridiculous with the random battle frequency, but FF7R's dungeons seem to spread the battles out a little more than the olden days, which makes exploring different paths less frustrating and the battles more wanted.

 

[Celcius]

Just beat my second play-through, and this time I beat all the quests and summons. Some random thoughts:

• God damn. Those last 4 chapters are fucking top-notch. Worth the price of admission alone.
• Hell, just the start of Chapter 16 is worth the price of admission alone. Seeing the shinra building at night will all that surrounding cyberpunk landscape is a sight to behold.
• The last chapter, even if you don't like the story changes, you have to admit is epic as hell.
• I've seen some people talk about how they like to skip the bike sections on subsequent playthroughs (which the game allows you to do), but those are some of my favorite parts of the game. Don't know why people wouldn't like them. Especially the sequence in the last chapter, including the run-in with Motorball. That honestly might be my favorite part of the game.
• Out of the three big newly added sections (Jessie mission, Underground lab, and Leslie mission), it's really only the Leslie section that I think should definitely have been cut:
  • The Jessie chapter has a bike section (which I like, as mentioned above), it has that wonder-filled part on the upper-plate with the great music and backdrop, and some good development of the Avalanche crew. The final part at the Shinra base feels like the most unnecessary part, but overall it's a good chapter with a lot of great moments.
  • The underground lab isn't the most necessary chapter, but it does tease the Shinra experiments (which Cloud uses as his main reason to convince Aerith's mom of the rescue mission), and it also teases one of the better side-quests (the Behemoth). And it gives Barrett some shine. So also a pretty good chapter.
  • However, the whole Leslie section in Chapter 14 is lame. Out of all the locations to have you visit a second time, the sewers would have to be the last one I'd pick, but that's where you go. And Leslie's whole backstory is just really generic and forced. Only good thing about this section is the scene with Corneo.
• I didn't get Leviathan and Bahamut on my first playthrough, and getting them this time was a lot of fun. Not only is fighting the summons cool in itself, but you get to fight summon with summon. Having Leviathan go up against Bahamut for example, or Ifrit against Leviathan, is some badass shit.
• On that same note, it was also epic summoning the true Bahamut against that false Bahamut at the end of the game, with my Bahamut ending the duel with Mega Flare. Awesome.
• It was interesting to watch Aerith on the second playthrough now that we know she was knowledgeable of the timeline the whole time. A lot of subtle hints sprinkled throughout her dialogue.
• As for Sephiroth, I definitely like most of his appearances, but I agree he's shown a bit too much. It's really just two appearances in the first half that felt kinda lame (the scene in the next-door apartment and the scene in the Sector 5 lost boys area). His intro scene where you follow him through the flames is badass, and basically 95% of the stuff he does towards the end of the game is cool. Also, his scene with Cloud after the plate collapse was creepy and well-done.
• The side-quests certainly have room for improvement in the next installment, but they aren't as bad as people make them out to be:
  • A good portion of them are legitimately funny, like the ones with Johnny, the gym bros (and gym trannies), the one with Kyrie, the one with the jukebox, etc. The first set of quests in Chapter 3 are the worst ones (which are none of the quests I just mentioned).
  • Two of the side-quests had nice teases when you were playing the main story. One of which was the roaring Behemoth that you hear in the underground labs that leave you thinking "wtf was that?", and then there's the Corneo stashes sprinkled around different areas that leave you wondering how you'll eventually get into those.
  • You have the summon battles that I mentioned above
  • Collecting all the music discs is cool, especially for a big music fan like me
  • And lastly, you have the Coliseum, which is a fun way to grind. I especially like how each stage of the 5-stage fight has a different song. One stage will have some metal, another some bangin techno, and another might have some epic orchestral stuff for example.
• On that note, when you beat all the side-quests you get an Elemental materia (which gives your melee attacks an elemental effect). I already had one of those, but after getting the second materia I gave Cloud the fire element and Tifa the lightning element. Having Cloud go around with a lit up fire sword that burns everyone up while also having Tifa go around with electrified fists that cause lightning bolts all over the place....is just so satisfying and cool to watch.
• On my second playthrough I had Cloud stick with the Buster Sword the entire game. None of his other swords look as cool, and the buster sword is just so iconic for FF7. I think that move alone definitely made me enjoy the game a little more than last time since Cloud's sword is center-screen most of the game.
• Lastly, I just want to mention how well-done the credits are. Seeing highlights of the story while Nobuo's classic themes play is a great way to end things. Really makes you appreciate the adventure you just went on.

I haven't fought Pride & Joy (saving that as the capstone of my Hard Mode play-through that I'll do next time), but I did beat Bahamut. The trick with Bahamut is to put Revival Earings on one or two of your characters. The main issue with him is that he Mega Flares you after a while, which kills all your characters regardless of HP and status effects. But if you have the Revival Earrings on, that character will auto-revive and then you can revive the others and keep on fighting.

Very cool write up
I had a slightly different approach to beating Bahamut - have someone cast manaward on your characters before he does mega flare and then it will only deal half the damage which prevents them from dieing. As backup I did equip the revival earrings on a character though just in case.

I can’t wait for the next episode as I’m sure it will be just as epic!

 

[Mr. PlayStation]

Where is the 60fps patch for PS5 How much longer should I've to wait to experience this gem for the first time

 

[Lethal01]

Yeah, after playing this game twice now, I'd have to say this is the best combat in the series, even over FFX (which is definitely the best classic-style combat). It really just feels like the combat we've all envisioned in our heads for the longest time. Enemies on the field, real-time action combat with a ton of pizzaz, the need to switch between the characters (which something like FF12 just puts on auto-pilot), and the balanced necessity of both hacking/slashing mixed with tactical ability/spell selection (along with the slowdown which helps with tactics and also just looks awesome with all the particle effects).

I'll also note that the pacing of battle frequency is excellent. Older Final Fantasy games can be pretty ridiculous with the random battle frequency, but FF7R's dungeons seem to spread the battles out a little more than the olden days, which makes exploring different paths less frustrating and the battles more wanted.

The only thing missing is better air combat, Because fighting in the air is cool and Square enix method of doing it games like Kingdom Hearts is way more unique and dynamic than most.

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

Wishful hopes for PS5 version.

-Native 4k
-60fps
-Higher res textures
-Technical glitches sorted
-An extra chapter - Tifa before the Don.
-Extra chapter - on the plate, there's a gap between scaling up to the Shinra building and arriving there where they could fit this in. Would be cool to see more of the upper plate.
-Playable Red XIII
-A few more fleshed out side quests
-Adjustments to the Hojo section / trail of blood would be nice

 

[Ixion]

Very cool write up
I had a slightly different approach to beating Bahamut - have someone cast manaward on your characters before he does mega flare and then it will only deal half the damage which prevents them from dieing. As backup I did equip the revival earrings on a character though just in case.

I can’t wait for the next episode as I’m sure it will be just as epic!

Ah, so manawall does help. I think the guide I read mentioned not to go that route since you need to time your buffs right before he decides to do Mega Flare, which is kind of tricky. Whereas the revival earings are fool-proof. But good to know there's another approach (besides just beating him before Mega Flare, which would be the toughest way).

The only thing missing is better air combat, Because fighting in the air is cool and Square enix method of doing it games like Kingdom Hearts is way more unique and dynamic than most.

Yeah, that could be better, but I never really saw it as a true negative since the game tells you at the beginning to use Barrett for flying enemies. Similar to using Wakka for flying enemies in FFX, that approach encourages the player to switch between the characters. Obviously the other characters can still land attacks if you get up close (or use magic), but I would usually go to Barrett.

Where is the 60fps patch for PS5 How much longer should I've to wait to experience this gem for the first time

The rumors have been pointing to a full, paid PS5 version that brings new features/sections. So I wouldn't expect a free patch.

Wishful hopes for PS5 version.

-Native 4k
-60fps
-Higher res textures
-Technical glitches sorted
-An extra chapter - Tifa before the Don.
-Extra chapter - on the plate, there's a gap between scaling up to the Shinra building and arriving there where they could fit this in. Would be cool to see more of the upper plate.
-Playable Red XIII
-A few more fleshed out side quests
-Adjustments to the Hojo section / trail of blood would be nice

And speaking of a PS5 version, this is a great list that covers all the bases. I'm not sure what they could do with the trail of blood though without going to an M-rating. And I know some people feel the Hojo section in Chapter 17 is too slow and long, but I think it's a nice change of pace. Chapters 15 and 16 are really epic in their own ways, and then Chapter 17 gives you something more cerebral in terms of gameplay, setting, and music. And there is still a good amount of cool fights sprinkled throughout. And then after that the game goes full-on epic craziness for the rest of the duration. So it fits in nicely IMO. I'll admit I did get lost a few times during that section on my first playthrough, which didn't happen this time. So that helped too.

 

[Rentahamster]

(besides just beating him before Mega Flare, which would be the toughest way).

Actually, once you get the hang of it, it's the easiest way. You just stunlock Bahamut and he can't do shit.

 

[Lethal01]

Yeah, that could be better, but I never really saw it as a true negative since the game tells you at the beginning to use Barrett for flying enemies. Similar to using Wakka for flying enemies in FFX, that approach encourages the player to switch between the characters. Obviously the other characters can still land attacks if you get up close (or use magic), but I would usually go to Barrett.

Yes, I'm forced to admit that it's working exactly as intended (except for when you are forced to do it, and the camera not working well with it)
I am simply against their intentions, tons of media has portrayed Cloud fighting in the air and it looks cool as fuck, I see their choice to make him more grounded in this and I SAY BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO FIX IT.

 

[Ixion]

Actually, once you get the hang of it, it's the easiest way. You just stunlock Bahamut and he can't do shit.

By throwing a lot of magic at him?

Yes, I'm forced to admit that it's working exactly as intended (except for when you are forced to do it, and the camera not working well with it)
I am simply against their intentions, tons of media has portrayed Cloud fighting in the air and it looks cool as fuck, I see their choice to make him more grounded in this and I SAY BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO FIX IT.

Yeah, definitely a good point that we don't get to go full Advent Children Cloud in this game, so hopefully Square reaches a more ideal setup in the next installments. It would also make sense story-wise with the characters getting stronger and more experienced (and closer to their Advent Children selves) the further we go.

 

[Rentahamster]

By throwing a lot of magic at him?

Yes. Firaga and Thundaga interrupt him so you can cancel his attacks, and then if you DPS enough transition into a pressured state.

 

[Ixion]

FF7 Remake won the "Grand Award" at the Playstation Partner Awards, whatever that means. Kitase looks pleased, therefore I am pleased.

 

[Rentahamster]

My brain: How can I hold all these shapes?

 

[Celcius]

I finally went back and did all the requirements needed to unlock the very last challenge in the Shinra Battle Simulator. The first fight is against Shiva and it's ridiculously hard. I did like 6 limit breaks, 1 Megaflare from Bahamut, plus a ton of normal damage and eventually I ran out of mp and died. Her HP was only half-way gone too and I'm lv 50. Tough to imagine going through 4 such fights before I even get to Price and Joy. Not being able to use items makes it really challenging.

Time to look up some strategies...

 

[Lethal01]

This is the good stuff right here

 

[Aggelos]

Lorne Balfe and the London Philharmonic Orchestra unleashed the orchestral power. Another one of those Hans Zimmer protégés. Harry Gregson-Williams was the first Media Ventures composer to work in the video game industry on Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty in 2001. Klaus Badelt, Stephen Barton, Steve Jablonsky, Lorne Balfe, and Hans Zimmer joined a few years later.

At least FFVII Remake won the Best Music and Best RPG awards.

Lorne Balfe - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Remote Control Productions (American company) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Rentahamster]

This is the good stuff right here

Damn, that is impressive work. Very helpful for language learners.

 

[losslessFlac]

Was expecting a definitive edition announcement. Am disappointed.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

Lorne Balfe and the London Philharmonic Orchestra unleashed the orchestral power. Another one of those Hans Zimmer protégés. Harry Gregson-Williams was the first Media Ventures composer to work in the video game industry on Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty in 2001. Klaus Badelt, Stephen Barton, Steve Jablonsky, Lorne Balfe, and Hans Zimmer joined a few years later.

At least FFVII Remake won the Best Music and Best RPG awards.

Lorne Balfe - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Remote Control Productions (American company) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Did I miss something? I thought I saw the TLOU2 win best soundtrack at the game awards?

 

[Lethal01]

Did I miss something? I thought I saw the TLOU2 win best soundtrack at the game awards?

It didn't, maybe got sound design or something but you can clearly see it was FF7 that got best soundtrack

 

[GAMETA]

Should I play the original before the Remake? I'm not sure I want to spend 40+ hours on a PS1 game but I'll do it if it's worth.

I finished Grandia 1 again a couple of months ago, still a great game. How is the the original FFVII holding up today?