Final Fantasy VII Remake

[Hero-of-Time]

4 hours ago, Julius said:

 

@Hero-of-Time, did you complete most/all of the side quests by chance? I'm guessing so based on how you usually annihilate games like this, and from your total end playtime. I've completed all but one up to this point, but I have a quick question about that last one if you did complete them, and don't mind answering...

  ...side quest spoilers? (Reveal hidden contents)

...it's the Don Corneo's Stash side quest.

More of a clarification than anything I guess, but the last one that I have remaining to loot is the one in the sewers, and I remember exactly where it was; however, there's no way that I can remember/see getting down there from the "overworld", and the Sector 7 entrance that we came out is gone, unless I'm forgetting something.

The game is warning me that I won't be able to access certain things now if I push ahead with the story by entering Don Corneo's mansion, but am I right in thinking that that's the only way I have available to access the sewers, and that I should push ahead with the story, or is there an entrance that I'm missing somewhere? 

Also, assuming you did complete the side quests, I would love to know your thoughts about one or two of them in particular, and any others that come to mind! 

  The Return of Side Quest Spoilers (Reveal hidden contents)

What did you think of Type-0 Behemoth? I absolutely loved that battle, I thought that it was a pretty unique boss battle compared to most of what you'd faced (at least up to that point in the game), and I appreciate the build-up they gave it earlier in the story with the roaring from when you first passed through that area. Loved it. 

Also found the Tonberry battle hilarious, definitely found myself spamming a few Phoenix Downs during that battle, but loved how it just slowly waddled around before annihilating a party member in one hit. 

Really don't want this game to end, but also really can't wait to see what happens next. 

I finished all the side quests but I did somehow miss 2 odd jobs. The game tells you certain stats when you beat the game and it's here I noticed I was missing two.

Spoiler

I was stuck n the same thing! Yes, you are right. If you continue with the story then you will go back into the sewers and it's here where you'll find what you are looking for. Don't worry though, you will know when the point of no return is.

 

Spoiler

Yeah, I thought the behemoth battle was fantastic. I actually failed on my first attempt as I wasn't able to stagger it. It wasn't until I used Asses and then read the description that I realised you had to take out both the lower and upper parts of the body. Once that was figured out it was just a question of whittling them both down at the same time.

The Tonberry fight was hilarious and like you I had to use stupid amounts of phoenix downs in order to survive. I found that getting a few hits in and then dodging away was the best tactic. Doing this stopped him from using the Chef's Knife attack a lot. Although when he paused a character it was pretty much game over for them. 

I can't wait to discuss the game with you after you have finished it...

[Blade]

I've read some reviews...apparently it is a negative that the game is different to the original.

I think this is a great thing! I'm really enjoying it and loving the fact the overall it is the same story but at the same time being a completely different game.

In my view, this means a remake is completely worth it. The original will always exist and will remain the fantastic game it is in its own right. Because, the remake is so different, both it and the original can exist comfortably side-by-side.

The game is a retelling of the story rather than just the same game with a few little extra with nice graphics.

[Happenstance]

Just finished the first chapter and I'm loving it so far. My only real complaint being that I wish the sword animation was quicker after you hit boxes.

[Julius]

Well, after just shy of 38 hours and say 4 AM, credits are rolling. 

It's far too late (early?) for me to start diving in too deep, and there are quite a few things I think I want to sleep on, but I will say this: Square Enix took a lot of risks with this game, and while some of those might have missed the mark for me, the overwhelmingly majority of the game hit near perfectly and is nothing short of amazing. 

I'll leave it at that for now. 

Anyway, we've got a LOT to discuss @Hero-of-Time  

Edited April 7, 2020 by Julius

[Julius]

Okay, I'm awake. Going to do this quite briefly, and a bit messy, as I'm still gathering a lot of my thoughts. Worth noting that some of my problems with the game on the technical side of things which I mentioned before might end up being patched. 

Let's mosey, non-spoiler style. 

MUSIC: the music is great, which is almost par for the course for a Final Fantasy game, I know. There were a a lot of tracks which elicited a great emotional reaction from me, but I do think one or two of the tracks were over-composed, and one or two other tracks didn't quite have the same impact that I thought they had in the original. But overall, a stellar soundtrack, in particular with the battle music and Hollow, the game's theme/credits song, is surprisingly great. 

COMBAT: I don't have any experience with the modern Final Fantasy games, but from what I've read, heard and seen of XV, VII Remake's battle system seems to be a step above in every regard. It's fluid and dynamic, requires your full attention at all times, and the ATB gauge adds a dimension of strategy to combat that I think most turn-based fans will be pleased with. It reminds me a lot of Chrono Trigger, in a great way, with curated sets of enemies to be found and engaged, and seamless transitions in and out of battle. Boss battles are epic, as are there soundtracks, and I don't think there was a single one that I didn't love. 

It's worth mentioning though that were a number of times where battles were a little frustrating, in that some enemies have extremely good targeting and are guaranteed to hit you almost regardless of what you do, and you can actually be knocked out of using your Limit Break/a spell/ability if hit by an enemy in the small amount of time between selecting to use it and the animation starting, and it still spends your Limit meter/MP/ATB bars as though you'd used it. The camera can also be a little hard to control at times in battles, and while the sense of scale in the battles are spot on for the most part, there were some occasions where you practically just end up in the face of a boss, which makes it difficult to read the battle on the scale that they want you to. The game is very generous on the odd occasion when you do lose a battle, giving you the option to either back out to the last checkpoint or, much more likely, just retry from the last battle. 

CHARACTERS: Cloud Strife has taken strides in this game which will assuredly wash away the impression that he was some "depressed emo", as I have seen touted in other corners of the internet, in the original game. He's cool, calm, and collected, but knows what he's fighting for, and is every bit the character that you remember from the original game. His interactions with other characters, however, is what really pushes this game above for me, and it's an aspect of the game which I think they knocked completely out of the park. Hearing him banter with Barret, seeing him slowly open up to Tifa, and seeing how his relationship with Aerith grows from confused stranger, and most importantly how all of this changes as the game goes on, is a testament to an excellent script and is realised by an excellent voice cast. 

Special mentions to Cody Christian as Cloud, Britt Baron as Tifa, Brianna White as Aerith, and Erica Lindbeck as Jessie; they did a stellar job in particular and deserve to be recognised for it. The Avalanche cast is fleshed out and it's hard to not get emotionally invested in Wedge, Biggs, and Jessie, and I love how much you learn about them and get to interact with them in this game. Shinra, and the Turks in particular, are elevated from the mostly one-note characters that they were in the original to being a formidable and believable threat. Also, Marlene is friggin' adorable. 

WORLD: the city of Midgar is a site to behold and then some. From the oppressive, manufactured green-blue hue which envelopes the city at night, to the outrageous scale of the city and its buildings and sectors, I'm amazed that Square Enix realised this setting in the way that they did, and they did so with aplomb. If you pay attention, and like me lived the pre-rendered backgrounds of the original, there are some gorgeous ones to see in this game. Kudos to them. Traversing Midgar is what I would describe as a linear-open world experience: much like Dragon Quest XI or the latest God of War, the game's main story can be followed by just following the path up ahead, or you can take other paths to explore (this being a JRPG, exploring and finding secrets and hidden items is probably going to be your preferred way to walk around Midgar), which is great because it definitely feels like it gives you the choice, and the map is your best friend when it comes to making sure that you haven't missed anything out. 

However, there were one or two times where the map/destination marker didn't quite take me in the right direction, and one of my biggest gripes with the game's traversal should perhaps have been expected for a game of this size and appearance on these consoles: there's a lot of Uncharted-like world traversal, such as squeezing into a narrow gap, slowly passing across a narrow beam, and crouching below things, to allow the game to load. It's a fair trade-off for what you end up getting in terms of the scale and quality of the world, but it does slow the game down and make for some odd pacing at times. 

Overall, though, some technical issues aside, an amazing return to Midgar, and Square Enix have set a high benchmark with this game in a lot of ways, as they did with the original; hopefully, this is a sign of bigger and better things to come next generation with Part II and XVI, whenever they arrive. 

@Hero-of-Time, I'm still collecting some of my thoughts, but now that I'm finished, I definitely have some not-so-brief thoughts to share and get the discussion rolling. 

Spoiler

The biggest risk that I thought Square Enix might take with these games would be something like pulling the old switcheroo killing Tifa instead of Aerith, or something like that, or perhaps take some liberties with the escape from Midgar to hook people in for the next game. 

Boy was I wrong. 

Right now, I would say that I absolutely adore 90% of this game, but that I'm still coming to terms with the other 10%. 

My biggest worries going into this game were how Sephiroth and the Nibelheim Incident would be handled: one of my favourite handlings of a video game villain, and one of my favourite flashback sequences. 

In the original, Sephiroth was a phantom that we were always a few steps behind, and the opening of that game did an excellent job of turning what was just a name into a nightmarish super-being to be reckoned with: we didn't see him, but the blood trail he left in the Shinra Building after killing the President, and the ominous bells of Those Chosen By The Planet, told us all that we needed to know. Then you've got how they expertly showed the difference in class between Sephiroth and Cloud in the flashback when you see Sephiroth's level, equipment, and spells. And the murder of the Midgar Zolom. He was an unstoppable, untraceable force to be reckoned with, and that made him terrifying. Save for his true body being up in the North Crater, but that's besides the point. 

The Nibelheim Incident was excellent because of the questions it raised, and the (not totally accurate) story it told. It was an excellent story point in itself, seeing Sephiroth's descent into madness and having Those Chosen By The Planet come into full force once you find him in the basement. 

How could Square Enix possibly match up to the mystique and overwhelming chaos that is Sephiroth in the original game, and fully realise the Nibelheim Incident? In my opinion, I think because of some of the decisions that they made for the game's ending (and perhaps because they felt they might not be able to match how they were handled in the original), I think they played these cards poorly. Sephiroth's face was shown too soon, and while there's certainly a menace to him, there isn't quite the build-up to him that there was in the original game. The black feathers perhaps could have been utilised more, and Sephiroth's voice, but not face, could be shown to achieve this. Throw his silhouette in front of a burning Nibelheim, sure, but don't have me following a fully realised Sephiroth model down an alleyway a few hours into the game! Those were my favourite parts of the original game, and I can't help but feel that they bungled them. 

Also, didn't know where to stick this, but special mention to the cutscene in the Shinra Building where we get a brief history of the Ancients. That scene was absolutely stunning and very well done. 

Now, for the ending. 

I feel like things started to go a little off-kilter when we got to The Drum in Hojo's Lab: the area felt too large and drawn out for that point in the game, where I feel we should have been building momentum to charge towards the finish, and I feel like it hurt the pacing a little there. But no matter, one of my favourite scenes with the blood trail is coming up, and we're about to be locked up, right? No, we're in Aerith's old prison cell? That'll do I guess. She starts explaining the Whispers and it was there that the story started to show it's hand a little too much, and things started clicking for me with where they might end up going: I think that it's a cheap literary device for beings like that to safeguard "destiny", but hey, whatever, I was willing to give them a pass there. But then the blood trail scene is replaced with a Jenova trail scene, and the President isn't dead, Barrett has a moral quandary before Sephiroth really kills the President, we get a Barrett fakeout (I mean, at least we won't see something like this in the sequel now the Whispers are gone...right?). 

But man, that Dreamweaver Jenova fight. Holy balls was that awesome! The fight itself was really well coordinated, and I loved the hints of J-E-N-O-V-A before the music REALLY kicks in and we get an all out reimagining of the original battle theme, which was stunning. And the hint of One Winged Angel at the end of track was awesome! I was grinning from ear-to-ear. The Rufus fight was fun too, but nothing on Jenova. Sorry, bud. 

Anyways, things kind of calm down a bit after the roof, save for what happens to Wedge (the game doesn't make it clear whether he ends up dying or surviving the Whispers dragging him away towards the elevator shaft) - let's mention here that I'm not the biggest fan of Biggs making it out of the Pillar alive. If someone had to make it, couldn't it be Jessie? Oh well, the motorcycle chase out of Midgar was epic, and I love how they decided to handle the battle with Motorball this time around (was great for pacing too). 

Then we get to the edge of the highway, Aerith is talking about a boundless world which is terrifying with never-ending skies (the promise has been made for the next game?), and I'm there like hey, awesome, we're about to see credits. 

Other than my gripe with how Sephiroth and Nibelheim were handled, my biggest gripe the game, I absolutely loved that game. The darkness will lift, the sun will start setting, and we'll see that promotional image we saw a couple of months ago. 

Nope. A few seconds later, having never played a Kingdom Hearts game before, I feel like I instantly understood how convoluted a mess the story in those games must be when Sephiroth turned up, the Whispers went wild, Aerith opened a portal and suddenly we're taking on Whispers from the future timeline on a destroyed highway/Midgar.

Worth mentioning right about now that I've only played the original game, seen bits and pieces from Advent Children, and have seen the ending to Crisis Core. 

Scenes are sporadically playing out from the original game, and I'm just there thinking okay, cool, they're trying to hook people in but they're kind of forcing everything in here at the end, and showing a bit much. 

Then Sephiroth turns up, the game goes all Advent Children as he and Cloud duke it out, One Winged Angel kicks in, and I'm just sitting there like I was at the end of Joker: they just couldn't help themselves, could they? Funnily Sephiroth was very clearly targeting Aerith in my battle with him though, which I found hilarious. The fight itself was pretty...meh, to be honest. A lot of rolling, parrying, and healing. Not the best boss fight in this game by a long shot. 

Then we get Cloud diving towards Sephiroth, like in the original game, and Sephiroth is asking for Cloud's help. Multiple Sephiroths? Uh-oh. 

Then we get the Zack scene play out differently, which I thought was awesome, and it looks like Stamp on the packed that flies by is different to the one we see for most of the game, so...different timelines I guess? 

I'll be honest, the ending is pretty messy. I feel like we could've gone this route without the need for fighting the Giant Whisper and Sephiroth, but here we are. 

Square Enix is going to face a LOT of backlash after this, I'm sure, and they've pulled off a strange feat with this ending of completely ostracizing newcomers, with the crazy amount of callbacks to the original and spin-off games, but including them moving forwards thanks to the changes, and potentially pissing off fans of the original. This is a sequel just as much as it is a remake, and I'm not a fan of how they handled promotion for this game knowing how it ends. 

It's why I took a while to collect even my initial thoughts, but it doesn't matter: despite the mess towards the end, and my problems with the handling of Sephiroth/Nibelheim, the rest of the game completely won me over. Mainly because of that, I'm in for whatever comes next in Part II, and I can't wait to see how it all ends up playing out and to return to this world in a few years' time. 

 

Edited April 7, 2020 by Julius

[Hero-of-Time]

@Julius

Spoiler

I absolutely love the balls that S-E/Noruma had for pulling what they did with the ending. The game being on a different timeline/path to the original makes it so that they can now create the next parts without having being locked down to the original story. It's given them a great amount of freedom to do things differently. 

If you look back with the knowledge that you now have, you can see the signs that this universe isn't the same as the original. Every time the Whispers intervened was because a decision was deviating from the original story. Stuff like Hojo about to tell Cloud who he really is was a clear cut sign that this wasn't the story we were led to believe it was, at least when looking back at it.

When I seen the boot on top of that hill I knew exactly who it was and what was about to go down. When Zack was standing there and giving his speech from Crisis Core I was as giddy as a school girl and was thinking "Are they going to do it?!" Yup. They managed to actually save him and it was at this point where I shed a few tears. Crisis Core is one of my favourite FF games and Zack one of my favourite FF characters. Seeing him come out of the end of that final battle and getting the justice he deserved was amazing.

This also brings us to the point of Aeris. With the timeline now free, surely this means there's the possibility of her now surviving? Fans have long wanted her to be brought back from the dead or not being killed in the first place and it seems that they may finally get their wish. Speaking of Aeris, I felt sorry for her when she mentioned that every time the Whispers touch her she loses part of herself. This was another hint that things aren't what they appear to be. She was trying to be one thing but the Whispers weren't allowing it and forcing her to be the original Aeris.

I think the struggle to keep things the way they were and our heroes fighting for change is quite meta. In the past, there have been interviews about how things S-E would have perhaps done things differently with the original game and this was their chance to do it. However, fans would want things kept exactly as before and this would cause backlash and a fear of change. I see the Whispers as fans not wanting anything to change and S-E as the heroes of the game, trying to carve their own path.

In regards to your thoughts on Sephiroth, I don't think S-E could ever recapture that sense of dread and mystery about the character now purely because it's been years since the game's release and just about every gamer who would be playing this game knows all about the guy at this point. I mean, the question is up in the air at this point as to which version of Sephiroth this even is and where he is from. 

Quick question: Did you take the stairs in the Shinra building? I did and it was absolutely hilarious hearing Barret puffing and panting, trying his best to get up all of them.  

 

[Julius]

@Hero-of-Time

Spoiler

Yeah, the boldness of Nomura and Nojima with some of their story decisions can't be understated. For S-E to allow such a gamble deserves recognition, creators should be allowed to be as creative as they can be. Their meta-commentary on the original game with this one, and the deconstruction of that game, is going to be interesting moving forwards. 

I actually caught small hints of what they were doing with the Whispers earlier on, but I wasn't certain until what happened with them stopping Cloud and the others from getting to the plate controls at the top of the Pillar after Rude sets it to drop. It's the first time that they seriously started fighting against what the characters wanted to do, as opposed to just getting in the way for relatively nebulous reasons at the time. For me, the problem is just the way that they spelled it out with Aerith and the story telling us what purpose exactly the Whispers serve, and the way that they handled the ending particularly was just a little too messy for me.

I genuinely think that you could take out everything between them getting to the end of the highway and still end with Zack's altered fate and Biggs living, and know that this is now an altered timeline. The reason for the change could be explained down the line, I don't think there was any major reason to bring in multiple Sephiroths at the end there, it just muddied it all a bit too much for me. 

My jaw dropped when I saw Zack's boot, I can't imagine what it must have felt like for you as someone much more familiar with Zack and the other FFVII materials. Really glad that you enjoyed the scene, as someone only familiar with the Crisis Core ending and his story in the original game, I still got a big smile from me. Got to imagine that this means we get some form of playable Zack or alternate Cloud in the next game? 

Yeah, I think that Aerith's survival is certainly on the cards now. Wouldn't be surprised at all if we lost someone else in her stead, but at the very least I guess she's not dying at the Temple of the Ancients this time around. I'm guessing every vision we saw of the original game won't play out, and technically I suppose that means we could be in for the "bad" ending? Interesting point that you raise about the Whispers controlling Aerith to some degree, I get that she felt like she was losing some of herself, but I didn't take that to mean necessarily being forced to be the Aerith from the original game. That's a great take and I love it. 

And yeah, unfortunately I think that was the case with Sephiroth. There's no way that they'd be able to pull it off to the same degree, but I would've like a bit more build-up before we started seeing him fully, I suppose. I found it a bit odd after we saw him in full that there were times where we'd then only see the bottom half of his face or body, it's almost like they forgot they'd already played that card! 

I took the lift in the end, which wasn't anywhere near as entertaining as taking the stairs by the sound of things! I went to take the stairs but the JRPG side of things kicked in for me and I started wondering if I might miss an item or something (which I didn't). 

Also, unrelated to the story but I'll keep it in here anyways: do you think you're going to go for the Platinum anytime soon? At the very least for a couple more trophies I'm only missing one of the CDs (argh, this one hurts!) and two of the side quests. I think you mentioned having missed two of the quests yourself, maybe it's got something to do with the 'Discovery' quests, like spending time with Johnny in Wall Market when you first arrive? I kept hearing his voice but I couldn't see him anywhere! I'm guessing the side quests were either from that sort of thing, or maybe they're locked into a second playthrough? 

I'm debating going for it, but I might just wait until we're much closer to Part II, by which time a second playthrough will certainly be warranted! 

Oh, and I found the part of the Dreamweaver Jenova piece where the music really kicks in, and it's beautifull 

 

 

Edited April 7, 2020 by Julius

[Hero-of-Time]

@Julius

Spoiler

I'll probably be going for the platinum but it requires going through the game again but on hard difficulty. If I do go for it I want it to be my 400th platinum and I still need 15 or so more for that to happen. I imagine i'll just keep picking away at the game in between others.

The side quests you missed are indeed related to Johnny. If you help him out in Wall Market then you get 2 quests and if you happen to leave him alone then you will get another two. I mopped these up last night. If you are wanting to do it then jump straight to chapter 9.

As for the music, what number are you missing? I was missing number 26 and that requires you to get a perfect during the dance training. 

 

[Julius]

@Hero-of-Time

Spoiler

Damn, that's a lot of platinums H-o-T! That's awesome! 

And dang, I thought it might be that. I knew I heard his voice (it even showed his name and subtitles on the side of the screen) but after a few minutes of running around, I just couldn't find the guy. Might jump into Chapter 9 to do those side quests then, seeing as I'm practically there anyway  thanks!

I'm not sure about the number, I think it's number 7 or around there, it says that I missed that one in Chapter 14. I think the game is pretty open at that point with that being when the third wave of side quests come in, so I'm not too surprised I missed one there. Got the chocobos to get around at least, so hopefully won't take too long to track down.

I actually managed to get a perfect during the dance training, but I made a mistake during the actual show, which I found quite funny 

Think I might gun for those two things to be complete seeing as I'm so close later today, but yeah, I'll probably leave the platinum for now. At least the collectibles will be out of the way, so I can mostly just crit path the game in a few years! 

 

[drahkon]

Avoiding everything FFVII Remake related but I will never avoid FamilyJules

[Shorty]

I'm at chapter 8 and I just can't decide if I like this or not.

Which I guess means I don't.

I think I'm only playing it because I wanted it for so long, and the music and beautiful reimagining of everything is something special.

But the combat and linear gameplay are shite.

[S.C.G]

I got my physical copy of the game.

I don't remember anyone mentioning that it comes on two discs? (It probably was mentioned ages ago, was a surprise to me anyway)

Installing the first disc, I heard that you install it and then you install the rest of it once you reach a certain part of the game?

Either that or it prompts you to install the rest after the first disc... it looks like I'll be playing it later hopefully.

Has there been an update for it yet? It's close to release day now so I just wondered.

[Julius]

6 minutes ago, S.C.G said:

I got my physical copy of the game.

I don't remember anyone mentioning that it comes on two discs? (It probably was mentioned ages ago, was a surprise to me anyway)

Installing the first disc, I heard that you install it and then you install the rest of it once you reach a certain part of the game?

Either that or it prompts you to install the rest after the first disc... it looks like I'll be playing it later hopefully.

Has there been an update for it yet? It's close to release day now so I just wondered.

Nice! 

And I didn't come across anything like that, no. The install (first) disc has all of the game's installation included, took about 45 minutes for me. Slip in the play (second) disc after and you're good to go. 

No update available yet from what I've seen, have to imagine that there will be one made available tomorrow or over the weekend, though. 

[Julius]

Kitase put up a nice message for today's official launch: 

Also, the two different themes for the demo and for PS+ members are up today: 

Fastest way to access them is through the drop-down sub-menu for the game from the PlayStation home screen. Think I'll be going with the first one, as the Main Theme is certainly much calmer for looking around the menu than Let the Battles Begin! / Those Who Fight 

Still a great shame that the Tifa theme is US exclusive and stuck behind some silly promotional tie-in, Tifa's Theme doesn't get the love it deserves.

And a shame that the Sephiroth theme got stuck behind pre-order incentives too. Shinra's Theme makes for great menu music: 

Edited April 11, 2020 by Julius

[Esequiel]

Fuck you Sony and your £59.99 price tag on the store....... was going to grab it at £49.99 tonight then saw the price...... seriously just no.

[S.C.G]

1 hour ago, Esequiel said:

Fuck you Sony and your £59.99 price tag on the store....... was going to grab it at £49.99 tonight then saw the price...... seriously just no.

£60 digital? That's insane... It's only £49.99 physical, though having said that... it was around £43 to pre-order but a lot of places seem to have put the price up since it released.

[Esequiel]

6 hours ago, S.C.G said:

£60 digital? That's insane... It's only £49.99 physical, though having said that... it was around £43 to pre-order but a lot of places seem to have put the price up since it released.

Honestly, I try to rarely buy digital if I can help it because of shit like this. 

[Shorty]

When I got to chapter 9/10 I started to like the game more, I think it gets a lot better from there. The combat is a lot better against easy to medium enemies, but anything fast or particularly dangerous it's still very frustrating. There's just not enough ways to counter fast moving attacks, and the amount of things that can interrupt your attacks and magic really make you feel powerless at times. However, yeah, I would definitely say overall I'm liking the game a lot more now.

[S.C.G]

55 minutes ago, Shorty said:

When I got to chapter 9/10 I started to like the game more, I think it gets a lot better from there. The combat is a lot better against easy to medium enemies, but anything fast or particularly dangerous it's still very frustrating. There's just not enough ways to counter fast moving attacks, and the amount of things that can interrupt your attacks and magic really make you feel powerless at times. However, yeah, I would definitely say overall I'm liking the game a lot more now.

It's interesting, isn't it? I found that fighting against the first boss was a trial, partially because there's no way to grind at that point but also for the reasons you've stated, there are just some attacks where it seems like you just have to take a hit, especially if you're switching between characters as well... the battle system works but it takes a bit of getting used to.

I like the game though, it's really interesting for me from the perspective of never really, truly completing Final Fantasy VII in the first place but now I really want to play this remake through to the end... of this first installment anyway and then I may well start running through the original game as well so that I can appreciate the differences a bit more.

I saw a little bit more of the game from a point... maybe a few hours ahead of where I am now on an Easy Allies stream and it just further reinforces that this is a game which I'm glad I've decided to put some time into; I'll probably get back into it tonight, I started it two nights ago and got an hour and a half into it then had to stop playing for a bit.

Edited April 11, 2020 by S.C.G

[S.C.G]

Well, I ended up adding another four hours to the play total tonight and I'm only on Chapter 3... so you could say that I'm taking my time, I'm enjoying the game though.

I really like all of the extra world-building they've put into this remake, the amount of detail is impressive; I'm very much liking the voice acting as well.

I've definitely gotten to grips with the combat system now, so everything feels like it's flowing now, I've just got to practice a bit more.

Seeing as there are plenty of sidequests in the area I'm in now, I'm trying to do as many as I possibly can before moving the story on.

It's definitely time to call it a night though, but I'll likely play some more Final Fantasy VII Remake tomorrow when I get a chance.

[Dcubed]

Spoiler

Am I right in hearing that the big twist of this remake is that they're re-writing history and that this Remake takes place in a brand new, alternative timeline that ignores the original story completely?

If so... that's... ballsy... They're literally Star Trek 09'ing the original game!

Well it certainly changes expectations regarding the game and its subsequent episodes to come at least! (At the very least, it puts the odds of Aerith surviving at 2:1 now!)

 

Edited April 12, 2020 by Dcubed

[Julius]

@Dcubed

Spoiler

Yup. I think there's potentially at least two different timelines that they've added with this game's ending. 

It's definitely ballsy.

At the very least, it's a smart business move: controversy and speculation in embarrassing abundance, and they're no longer bound to the original (though no doubt they're going to make certain scenes play out....differently. This is very much going to be the video game industry's version of the Star Wars sequel trilogy level of heated discussion, controversy, and speculation for the next few years. I respect their decision to go with something different this time around, but I'm expecting to see a lot more backlash heading S-E's way over the next few weeks as more and more people finish the game. 

I think the biggest issue with the way things go is that, because it's at the very end of the game, S-E haven't proved yet that they can pull off these other timelines. I think it's the main reason I'm so split on the ending; overall, I overwhelmingly loved the majority of the game before that, but after hearing for years about the Kingdom Hearts story being a mess and some other projects, I can see why people were concerned about Nomura's and Nojima's major involvement, outside of the expected delays, etc. But Kitase has been and will presumably continue to be overseeing this project, so I'm optimistic in that, at least. 

Just got to imagine this will hurt for fans who have been waiting for a Remake since the PS3 tech demo, what, 15+ years ago? I am really not looking forward to seeing the initial reactions of someone like Maximilian Dood when they get to the ending. I only have a short history with the original game myself, but it holds a special place in my heart, and so even I felt pretty hard done by initially. I have very slowly started to come around to some things, but I'm still figuring out my thoughts on the ending. I just wish they'd been more honest about this being project from the start being a sequel/remake/reboot rolled into one. 

Again, I loved the game on the whole, but the ending of this is by all means makes this Final Fantasy VII Re:Make. I think what you get out of this game very much depends on what you want or expect going in. 

 

[Dcubed]

@Julius

Spoiler

Yeah, this changes everything.  It's literally not Final Fantasy 7 anymore! It's its own thing now.

So I guess that also means that they're no longer bound by anything from the original game, meaning that there's no longer any obligation for them to actually remake the entierty of the original game anymore either.  So perhaps there is actually a chance of this remake being completed after all now!

It's probably a good idea overall.  I had little faith in S-E's ability to make something that could live up to the original, so it's better that they instead try to just make something different.  They clearly want to make Advent Children The Game, so they might as well just go ahead and do it.  Just as long as they don't sully the original in the process, I don't really mind.

Sucks for people who really wanted a faithful remake (and sucks for people who were fooled into buying an incomplete re-imagining being sold as a full and proper remake), but at least now S-E can just focus on their strengths, instead of trying to chase a past that they could never hope to match.

 

Edited April 12, 2020 by Dcubed

[Goafer]

Fairly sure I'm coming to the end now. I'm basically at the point where the game tells you that there's no turning back after the next main story marker.

There's one thing that I think they could have made clearer and something I think everyone at chapter 14 should know:

Spoiler

At the start of Chapter 14, the story marker is set for Corneo's Mansion and the game makes it seem like that's the point of no return. However, some side quests can't actually be done unless you progress the story a bit more. I spent ages thinking that this was my last chance to do the side quests and couldn't figure out why I couldn't do one of them. 

Anyone looking to do all the side quests needs to do the bit at Corneo's Mansion first. The actual point of no return comes just after that.

 

[Happenstance]