Final Fantasy 7 - Remake

[Urinal Cake]

Well it'll be my third time- PS1, PS4 and then this version. Gameplay wise it's a novelty. Narrative I agree they seem to be going deep rather than wide. Like I don't want to find everything out about Cloud but build the world more.  Maybe they'll expand the locales enough to keep me interested.

[Sheffield Wednesday]

I don't want a game that just makes me think I am pressing buttons to get between A to B. I'm aware most games are that, but some do make an effort to fool me into thinking I have some agency.

And by "nah, not having it", I mean, I'm not paying a lot of money for what is essentially a lot of cut scenes with the odd bit of slashing and running between them. That was fine in 1997, not 2020. Fancy graphics and a nostalgic buzz isn't enough. I mean, even the original gave me some dialogue choices.

It looks great, but for me, it plays "meh".

Dare I say you're possibly being a tiny bit reactionary on the basis of the first 30 minutes, which also function as a tutorial for the UI and basic combat/interactions?

You also know that they're on a mission to blow up a reactor, context which doesn't offer a lot of scope for side quests or free roaming... I'm not being a smart arse here but I think you're reading a lot into this. Contrast the bombing mission in the original to how the game develops. This is unlikely to be representative of the whole game!

Also, "a lot of cut scenes with the odd bit of slashing and running between them" is a great description of God of War (2018)! :)

Edit: Here's a vid of some guy quick killing the scorpion boss at the end of the demo, by using lightning at the right moments and coordinating pressure attacks to stagger and then punish with more lightning and special abilities. There's already more depth to this combat system than anything in the endgame of the original.

https://youtu.be/P7Atr5Es03I

[Mister Six]

Yeah, original FF7 was absurdly basic in its combat throughout the whole reactor sequence, wasn't it? I don't think you even got to use a limit break until the scorpion boss, and didn't get a summon until you were out of Midgar.

[Sheffield Wednesday]

That's right, yeah. The combat in the original was no more complex mechanically than the SNES games.

As a criticism of the Remake, the Classic combat is a misnomer. There is no mode here which replicates the ATB combat of the original so I don't really know why they included that - or, rather, why they changed it yet called it Classic.

Also, to join The Culture Bunker in some healthy skepticism, I do imagine this will be narrower and more linear than the original, not least because we're very unlikely to leave Midgar. Until you reach the open world, the original is a series of set pieces and cut scenes. Although we know that they've expanded things here and included more side quests and back story, there is a narrative momentum to the whole first act that logically necessitates a set piece structure. I very much doubt there will be any free roaming around the city. I reckon it'll be more like a Persona thing where you jump from one walled-off area to another but they will pack these closed spaces with details. That sounds much more appealing to me because I think they can do more with those key areas that way.

Whether or not the greater depth and character exploration adds or takes away from the charm and mystery, I'm still pretty skeptical but I really enjoyed the dialogue and interactions in the demo more than in the original. Biggs, Jessie and Wedge have never really resonated with me at all but I already feel like I know them better from that half hour. It's goofy and sincere dialogue but in that way, it really hits the same notes as the original. I'm pleased they haven't tried to make it naturalistic or 'adult'.

[The Culture Bunker]

Also, "a lot of cut scenes with the odd bit of slashing and running between them" is a great description of God of War (2018)! :)

You couldn't actually make a worse comparison in trying to sell the FF7 Remake to me.

[Sheffield Wednesday]

I'm not trying to 'sell' anything to you.

I was saying that your description of outdated gameplay is at odds with that widely-celebrated modern big-budget game - one I have no affection for whatsoever. I was asking you to think twice about what you said.

I was actually quite understanding and polite in response to your bad-tempered froth so please take it down a few notches. Cheers.

[Jim Bob]

...it was fun how you could name the characters so that Red XIII can always be "Old Shep" to you if you wish.

"Who is Nanaki?"

"Nanaki is Nanaki."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FUN FACT: Have you ever noticed that Nanaki is Anakin with the last 'n' placed as the first letter?  Another Star Wars reference in a Final Fantasy game (like Biggs and Wedge) perchance?

[gmoney]

I remember reading (maybe on here?) of someone calling every character Sepiroth and trying to make any sense of what was happening.

[Dewt]

Or just leave the character names as their defaults and trying to make any sense of what was happening.

[gmoney]

Ha! Yes, that's as funny.

[bgmnts]

https://nintendoeverything.com/square-enixs-yoshinori-kitase-interested-in-remaking-final-fantasy-v-someday/


Oooh

[Cloud]

"Who is Nanaki?"

Heh, I also do similar with FFIX.  Sorry but Dagger is a fucking stupid name - back to Garnet you go!

[peanutbutter]

Feel like they'd've made a fucking killing if this came out a couple of weeks earlier.

[Thursday]

Imagine if they couldn't get it released because of Corona virus, imagine the gamer tears. It might actually be worth it.

[Obel]

Just played the demo, bleh, it was exactly what I feared. Button mashing combat that doesn't make you feel like you're having any meaningful impact on things and god awful voice acting that actually makes me like the characters less.

The plus points are the music has some nice updates of the classic tunes. I loved listening to the theme music on the title screen. I have so much affection for VII so it tugged on my heart strings a bit. The graphics are lush but the graphics are lush in every game these days. It's great seeing the world expanded and deepened; it's a world I want to spend a lot of time in but the gameplay itself just does not do it for me in the slightest. If this played like a Souls game with text dialogue I'd be all over it. I know that wouldn't make sense in a FF game but the way this is designed just isn't for me at all.

[Johnny Textface]

They've fucked the music.

[Obel]

They've fucked the music.

They should put your quote on the box

[Sheffield Wednesday]

If you think the combat is button mashing, you're playing it wrong. Remember also that if you had played a demo of the original FFVII, your impression of the combat would have been 'you wait to press attack three times and then you win'.

Some of the music sounds amazing with orchestral arrangements, some I definitely prefer the midi originals. They haven't 'fucked the music'.

I love this forum in many ways but the pulverising negativity and contrarianism make me weary.

[bgmnts]

Is it anything like FFXV? That combat was the least engaging and interesting combat in any AAA game i've ever played. You could pretty much play 90% game holding one or two buttons.

I hope it's not like that.

[Golden E. Pump]

It's nothing like that. That was my biggest fear. But it feels far more tactical than perhaps even the original, because now you've got to control the movement as well.

[Obel]

If you think the combat is button mashing, you're playing it wrong. Remember also that if you had played a demo of the original FFVII, your impression of the combat would have been 'you wait to press attack three times and then you win'.

Some of the music sounds amazing with orchestral arrangements, some I definitely prefer the midi originals. They haven't 'fucked the music'.

I love this forum in many ways but the pulverising negativity and contrarianism make me weary.

There's nothing contrarian about me disagreeing with your opinion. The fighting is as follows: press or hold square repeatedly. Occasionally visit a menu and do other stuff. It's not stimulating to me in the slightest. I prefer my RPG's to be action RPG's, where I have a few more buttons to work with that make me feel like striking an enemy actually has some impact. I'm not wowed at all by a character flipping through the air on screen when all I've done is tapped the same button a few times.

I remember perfectly my experience of playing FFVII the first time. I'd never played an RPG before so menu based combat was unique to me, it felt slower and more strategic allowing for planning out the fight. It also allowed the game to look a bit more graphically impressive for the time. If that version of the game came out in 2020 I'd think it was terrible, but it came out 23 years ago where I found it interesting and enjoyable.

[popcorn]

I too remember playing FFVII for the first time. Like many people, it was my first JRPG, or one of them.

I was appalled that repeatedly selecting attack from a menu and watching little men take it turns to hit each other constituted gameplay and immediately dismissed it as shit for cunts, an opinion I have been 100% right about ever since.

[MojoJojo]

Just played the demo, bleh, it was exactly what I feared. Button mashing combat that doesn't make you feel like you're having any meaningful impact on things and god awful voice acting that actually makes me like the characters less.

Yeah, this was my impression of it. Too cluttered and confusing, hard to work out what's going on and too many buttons. Not helped by the fact you're in charge of more than one person.

Yes, maybe this is all fixed by "git gud", but really it should be better. It looks good and sounds good, I might get it cheap and play it on easy.

[Cloud]

I love this forum in many ways but the pulverising negativity and contrarianism make me weary.

Think I said this a few posts ago but this lot could put a dampener on a funeral.  I overall enjoy posting here, they just don't like anything.  Honestly just play and enjoy things for yourself and don't worry too much what cab thinks of things - it's almost always some variation of "shit for cunts"

[bgmnts]

To be fair I fucking love lots of things to an obsurd degree even with thr mind numbing depression. But an FF VII revival isn't one of yhem.

[Thursday]

My feelings are slightly conflicted.

I wish they had gone for turn based traditional RPG combat, I'm not quite sure why it's assumed that's not viable now when plenty of modern RPG's do go with it to great success, I suspect perhaps it would look weird with the hyper-realistic style they go for, but then so does this. Personally, for a JRPG, I want turn based strategic combat rather than the ATB/Action hybrid

At the same time, the combat in this is MORE complicated than what you're doing at the start of the original game, and if they have to go with this kind of hybrid style, then this is the best example of it I've seen, and it definitely has potential to get more interesting when you've time to get used to it and they can design more complicated encounters. I'm looking forward to seeing how Tifa and Aeris would function in this style.

[Thursday]

I'm looking forward to seeing how Tifa and Aeris would function in this style.

(I bet you are you dirty old...)

[Abnormal Palm]

My issue was that the criticism extrapolated far more than is likely reasonable about the game as a whole. It's a demo of the very start of the tutorial, not a snapshot of the midgame mechanical depth. I love arcade games as much as the next guy, no, much more than the next guy, but I don't expect the FF7R to start in fifth gear.

Equally, saying that it doesn't play like an action RPG seems to be holding it to a standard it doesn't even attempt to meet. Despite appearances, the combat is very similar in principle to the original, bread and butter attacks chipping away with more tactical decisions making the significant differences. The character action elements are extremely light, far more in line with something like Xenoblade Chronicles than Bayonetta.

I will apologise for saying that it was contrarianism because that's a personal comment.

Edit: I forgot my password for that account yeah.

[Thursday]

Fucking lol, I thought I might come back and see that post edited.

[Abnormal Palm]

:) Good to see you, bruv.