Final Fantasy VII Remake

[Hero-of-Time]

Shopto you beautiful SOBs!

 

Well, I was going to play Resident Evil 3 Remake but that's out the window now.

[Julius]

@Hero-of-Time nice, enjoy! 

An update on my situation: SimplyGames haven't got back in touch me, despite leaving them an email and a voicemail. The way that they've handled my order is pretty atrocious: would have been arriving today, problem with my payment method (despite having funds) and instead of contacting me, they outright cancelled it, and said to order from them (they're out of stock now, btw). 

Was pretty gutted. I had the week following the Easter weekend booked off for the game, and though it could have been arriving early, I just straight up didn't have an order as of 19:00 last night.

Checked everywhere, and they were all sold out. Checked ShopTo on a whim at 20:00, and they were back in stock! Ordered with DPD next day tracked delivery and a different card, and it's set to arrive tomorrow!  what's more, I've been able to book off next week (working from home now) on short notice, so it's all worked out in the end. 

@Hero-of-Time I know you're probably busy right now getting ready for Midgar, but do you normally order with ShopTo? It's my first time ordering from them in a while, but what's your experience with them/would you recommend them? Because if my order does manage to arrive tomorrow (or even Saturday), I think I'll be cancelling all of my SimplyGames pre-orders and going with ShopTo instead moving forwards 

 

[Hero-of-Time]

I've been using Shopto for years and they very rarely let me down. I usually jump between Shopto and Simply Games, it just depends on where has the best price. They are both great for getting your games a little earlier. I preordered this on Shopto years ago when the price was just £38, so I just kept the order with them.

[drahkon]

@Hero-of-Time
This will be my game for May, most likely, so if you wanna share some significant changes/moments remember to use spoiler tags

Edited April 2, 2020 by drahkon

[Hero-of-Time]

3 minutes ago, drahkon said:

@Hero-of-Time
This will be my game for May, most likely, so if you wanna share some significant changes/moments remember to use spoiler tags

No.  

[Goafer]

My copy just showed up as well. Good times.

[Happenstance]

I've been charged today so I expect mine to probably go out tomorrow from what TGC have said on twitter. I don't plan on starting it until I'm done with P5R anyway though so I'm in no rush.

[Mandalore]

I'm surprised that is the final box art, looks more like a placeholder.

Will subsequent episodes be DLC rather than separate releases?

[Sheikah]

1 minute ago, Mandalore said:

I'm surprised that is the final box art, looks more like a placeholder.

Will subsequent episodes be DLC rather than separate releases?

It's a reconstruction of the original US box art.

 

Although I much prefer the Japanese and European style of no pictures, just the title and logo.

[Goafer]

14 minutes ago, Sheikah said:

Although I much prefer the Japanese and European style of no pictures, just the title and logo.

The other side of the cover came so close, yet just missed. Is it so much to ask to make the logo a bit bigger and centre it? Would have looked much better.

[Sheikah]

Black text on a black background also doesn't really work, I think.

[Hero-of-Time]

My thoughts so far. I won't mention any new plot points so it should be safe to read.

So, i've put in nearly 7 hours and finished the first 5 chapters of the game (no idea how many they are ). The first chapter is the bombing mission and it plays out as expected, keeping with the original plot and adding a few little things here and there. After that the game goes completely off on it's own and it really feels like i'm playing a brand new game here. Sure, the main plot points are there but the stuff that has been added in between is incredible. Biggs, Wedge and Jessie are really given the spotlight here, with Jessie being a major focal point of the story. I was always Team Tifa but Jessie may have swayed me a little. Just like she was in the demo, she's desperate to get amongst Cloud.  

I honestly teared up a little when you first meet Aeris. The music that plays is so emotional and really pulls at my heartstrings.There's a line that she says when handing over a flower and i'm not sure if it was in the original game. She says the flower is given to lovers who are reunited. I see this as a fantastic call back to Crisis Core. She lost Zack and see she's him in Cloud and so gives it to him.

The soundtrack is simply fantastic. Both the new songs and the new versions of the classics have been an absolute joy to listen to and I look forward to hearing what else is on offer in the coming chapters.

[Goafer]

I've just got back to the bar and whilst the game is pretty amazing overall, I have noticed a few rough edges. Nothing too bad and I think the fact that the rest of the game is so stunning makes them stand out a bit more than usual.

The main thing I noticed was just after you meet Tifa. She takes you somewhere and her character model, whilst still looking good, looked slightly worse than all the others, plus her lip syncing was terrible. Her footsteps also were not synced with the ground properly. Only slightly off, but enough that it just didn't look right and made it seem like she was sliding a bit. Then, when we got to where we were going, the doors had very low resolution textures. They weren't exactly supposed to be high detail, but they did look a bit odd.

Again, minor niggles really, but with the rest of the game looking incredible, they did stand out more than they would in most games.

Overall though it's been amazing so far. I could never really get too far into the original, so I'm hoping I'll finally be able to finish FF7, albeit in a different way than I planned.

Edited April 2, 2020 by Goafer

[Aperson]

Same here, FF7 Remake arrived today.

 

I'm going to respect Square's street date though and not post any spoilers, though I just finished Chapter 1 which was essentially just the demo everyone played already.

[Hero-of-Time]

@Goafer

Spoiler

Yeah, the slums are a bit weird in that they don't seem as polished as what Midgar was. I too noticed the low res textures and lip syncing being a bit off. Also, some of the NPCs look pretty rough looking in that area as well. Still, in the next area everything looks fine again. Very strange.

I know there was no patch to install when I put the disc in. Seeing as we are playing it stupidly early, I wonder if there is a day one patch on the cards that we are obviously going to be missing? 

 

[Goafer]

25 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

@Goafer

  Area you are in... (Hide contents)

Yeah, the slums are a bit weird in that they don't seem as polished as what Midgar was. I too noticed the low res textures and lip syncing being a bit off. Also, some of the NPCs look pretty rough looking in that area as well. Still, in the next area everything looks fine again. Very strange.

I know there was no patch to install when I put the disc in. Seeing as we are playing it stupidly early, I wonder if there is a day one patch on the cards that we are obviously going to be missing? 

 

I also wondered if the issues were due to there being no patch yet.

Fortunately nothing I've seen has ruined it for me yet, so it's still an absolutely brilliant game so far.

[Aperson]

I did wonder about that. Since the street date isn't until next week the Day 1 patch won't be out until next Friday. I guess we will have to deal with any bugs until then.

[Julius]

ShopTo and DPD with the insanely quick turnaround from Wednesday night! 

I'm working until 18:00 today, but the game will have been long installed by that point; eat, a quick daily Animal Crossing runaround on my island, and then I'm diving in! 

Edited April 3, 2020 by Julius

[Hero-of-Time]

I put a stupid amount of time into the game today and i'm currently sitting at around 20 hours played and i'm currently on chapter 12.

I'm amazed at how they've handled certain story events in this game. Little insignificant events, such as travelling through the train yard, have now become their own little stories. I think that's a theme that has been running throughout the game. Everything has been fleshed out more and the story is much better for it. Certain events in the game now have far more weight and emotion to them than they had before. This is thanks to a combination of fleshing the world and characters out and fantastic voice acting that draws you into the world. I've said for a long time that VO work can make or break a game and looking around for good talent can really elevate it to new a level.

During today's session I once again noticed a couple of references to Crisis Core, both of which hit me right in the feels. It's such a shame that they never found a way to release that on the PS4 because I think it would have been a good primer for this, especially for those who never got to play back on the PSP. Knowing the backstory with Aeris and Zack adds a little something to the events that you see happening here.

A worry about the game before release was whether or not it would keep the goofy nature that popped up now and then in the original game. Thankfully there have been a few parts that have retained the quirky parts of the PSOne release. The Wall Market area is very light hearted and some of the events that happen in the Honey Bee Inn are incredible. I had a huge smile on my face and it's something that would fit right at home in a Yakuza game. There was also a question of how some of the goofy enemy designs would work in a more realistic looking game, with a one monster featured in the slums area posing a bit of a head scratcher for fans. S-E have pulled it off in amazing fashion and I had a good laugh when it appeared.  

Some of the boss fights, as well as the music that has accompanied them, have been amazing. There has been a fair bit of strategy involved. In the original game you can pretty much brute force your way through most of the game but with the a lot of the boss fights here i'm finding that i'm having to utilise each of the characters unique abilities for certain situations. Usually i'd much rather brute force my way through but because the battle system is so fluid and stupid fun to use, it hasn't bothered me at all.

Obviously i'm still playing through the game but i'm seriously impressed with what i've played so far.

 

[Julius]

Five hours in and I'm calling it a night, just finished Chapter 4. I'm going to keep my thoughts so far tight, light, and breezy; that is to say: spoiler-free. 

This game looks incredible. I'm playing on a base model PS4 on a 49-inch 4K TV, and it genuinely looks superb. It's not without its technical flaws - as some have touched on already, certain areas seem to be rougher than others, at least in the version of the game playable right now - and some of the stuff I wasn't too keen on in the demo (i.e. the hair at times, faces being smoothed at certain distances, pop-in, etc.) still remain, but it does generally look and run much more smoothly. Also had one very weird moment where I finished a battle, made to leave an area, and the enemies respawned for a split second and battle music kicked in just as I was leaving said area. 

@Hero-of-Time has mentioned it plenty already, but I really want to repeat it to place an emphasis on and an exclamation mark behind the music in this game being incredible. Epic battle music, sombre melodies, or joyful remixed tunes, they're all great, and I haven't come across many yet that haven't either made me smile or get goosebumps. 

For anyone worried that S-E were just going to add filler content to draw out the length of this game, there's nothing to be worried about. The core plot is the same, but they take welcome detours which build on the original story and flesh out the Avalanche cast, and I've really been enjoying it so far. Jessie is full of pep, Wedge is welcome comic relief, and Biggs has been a great all-around character too, with plenty of quirks. 

Speaking of Biggs, he is 100% a dead ringer for Charlie Sheen in Platoon. There is absolutely no way that his voice actor, character design, and costume design in this game were not heavily inspired by Charlie Sheen as Chris in Platoon. No way. 

Anyways, the battles have been very fun and some of the side stuff has provided a welcome challenge, I'm looking forward to digging in more and adjusting to the intricacies of battle again (felt like I got pretty good on my fourth run through the demo, a little rusty now though!). 

I'm in no rush with this game, and I'm having a swell time. It's another game which I think is somewhat unfortunately perfect for the current state of the world - it is an all-encompassing world and story to sink your teeth into, and S-E have done a great job with the four chapters of the game that I've experienced so far. Very much looking forward to seeing how the rest of it all plays out! 

[Goafer]

9 hours ago, Julius said:

For anyone worried that S-E were just going to add filler content to draw out the length of this game, there's nothing to be worried about. 

I'd have to disagree with this. The side quests feel a lot like filler to me. It almost switched to a single player MMORPG for a moment, with a "go here, kill X" vibe.

That said, the game is indeed incredible. The side quests have been my only non-positive experience so far and the story mission, characters, graphics, music and everything else have been superb. Probably one of my favourite games of the generation so far.

[Blade]

Received my copy from Shopto! 

I was playing through Xenoblade Chronicles 2 but will shelve it temporarily (loving it though). 

I remember first completing FFVII in the late 90s on my brothers PS1 and wishing that a remake would be carried out before remakes and remasters became a thing with videogames.

FFVII is up there as one of my favourite games and my first RPG. It's a bit surreal playing its remake.

I've not yet started it. Took ages to install but now just spent the last 10 mins listening to the title screen. The nostalgia! 

 

[Hero-of-Time]

34 hours on the clock, end boss defeated, tears shed and credits have rolled. 

What an absolutely amazing experience this was and I honestly can't believe what they pulled off with it. 

I will say that once this game does get an official release, and if you are still playing it, then best stay the hell away from YouTube. They will no doubt be some MASSIVE spoilers kicking about, even for those who played the original game. Trust me when I say avoid everything where you can until you've finished the story. You don't want anything ruined for you. That's all I will say on the matter.

Certain things get unlocked after completing the game. Nothing spoilery in terms of story but I'll still hide it for those who don't wish to see.

Spoiler

A chapter select option opens up, allowing to jump to any chapter in the game but still retain all your equipment, level and materia.

You now get double exp and triple AP to help level you up.

Hard mode is now available and this adds the challenge of no items being allowed to be used, harder enemies and only HP restores at rest stations.

New side quest fights are available.

Again, brilliant game that I think was more than worth the wait. I can see why it took so long to get out the door.

For the most part the production values are through the roof and the game runs insanely well, especially when you compare it to other modern games that run like garbage and require huge patches. Aside from the niggles that a few of us have already spoken about, the game ran and looked perfect.

I now eagerly await the next part....4-5 years down the line.  

[Julius]

Played all day besides my AC check-in, now seventeen and a half hours in, and I'm nearing the end of Chapter 9 (I think?). That's a reeeeeally long chapter that one, with plenty to do. For the sake of clarity with regards to my time in the game, it is worth noting that I have been doing everything that I can find - side quests, exploring every place I come across (sometimes twice over), etc. - because I feel like it (only other times I've really done it otherwise to memory were with DQXI and Spider-Man). 

 @Hero-of-Time mentioned it (sorry for the constant mentions, but I'm catching up and feel like you're hitting the nail on the head with your thoughts!), but the Honey Bee Inn really is incredible - I'm amazed that the game has managed to balance Final Fantasy's silliness with a lot of the darker elements of the story with such detailed graphics to the degree that it has. 

Spoiler

...has the highest budget rhythm mini-game I've ever seen, and it's actually brilliant. For once, the timing of it all seems fair, and despite the movement of everything on-screen, it's easy to keep track of and enjoy. You could play and still watch the performance (which, by the way, was pretty fantastic).

Could've so easily been just a cutscene, but after finishing FF6 just the other day, I'm beginning to appreciate just how much Final Fantasy has historically been "gamified" in ways that some other games in the genre just wouldn't be, and I really appreciate it. 

I'm curious to see what ends up being in the Day 1 patch though - there has to be one, right? - because, as much as I'm loving this game, there are certainly times where the technical side of things play up a little. It doesn't take away from the game at all...I'd probably liken it to finding a pea in a bag of frozen sweetcorn: it shouldn't be there, sure, but it's not enough to really bother me. It's a small blemish on a very enjoyable game - and again, just want to stress that I'm playing on a base PS4. The issues I've noticed and would add to the ones that I mentioned before are lip-syncing issues and sound mixing - for the latter, the volume of some characters' voices in cutscenes and at other times when walking around are almost completely drowned out by the music (for one of the only times ever, though, I'm playing with subtitles, so it's fine, but worth noting if you don't make use of them) or background noise. 

Anyway, yeah, I'm really enjoying it. I don't want to put myself into a corner too much with my thoughts and declare that I love it right now, mainly because at a guess I'm either at or nearing the halfway mark (based on my memory of the first game, and roughly where I think this game will end) and still have plenty to experience. There is also a certain part from the original FFVII that is amongst my very favourite in video games, and I need to see how they handle that, and other parts of the original story that I'm keen to see play out. So I want to be somewhat tight-lipped on my opinion and some of the thoughts that I'm writing down as I play this, but hey, if you want one right now, just know that it's overwhelmingly positive. 

14 hours ago, Goafer said:

I'd have to disagree with this. The side quests feel a lot like filler to me. It almost switched to a single player MMORPG for a moment, with a "go here, kill X" vibe.

Ah, my bad, probably my phrasing letting me down here. What I meant was more in terms of no filler being added to the story - the additions they've made (at least from what I've experience so far) to the story have been welcome, in line with the overall tone of the rest of the game, and have fleshed out characters in a great way that I honestly didn't find myself that attached to in the original. 

Totally agree on the side quest stuff feeling like filler though; personally, I've been doing them all so far just because I'm enjoying as a way to get items and an excuse to grind, but it does feel have that MMORPG/early 2010s open world side quest vibe (from my admittedly limited experience with those). Fortunately it's been mostly optional from what I've played, so I guess it can be avoided if it's not for certain players. 

EDIT: @Hero-of-Time great write-up, really enjoyed reading your thoughts on the game as you've been playing and glad to see you enjoyed it - reading that definitely has me hyped up to experience the rest of it! And thanks for the heads-up on spoilers - I've been glued to the game practically all day anyways, and have only been listening to some download podcasts on YouTube, but I'm going to heed your warning and try to stay away from it until I'm done. Kind of glad in hindsight that I didn't end up rewatching all of the trailers the other night as I planned to, because there's no doubt that the YT algorithm would've already ruined the game for me otherwise 

Edited April 5, 2020 by Julius

[Julius]

A little over the 27 hour mark, kicking around in Chapter 14. Music's still excellent, the story beats are really hitting, and man, this story just seems like such a relevant story to retell right now. And they've been hitting the mark for me up to this point, so I'm excited for what remains; based purely on H-o-T's completion time, I think it's possible that I see credits roll tomorrow. 

@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...

Spoiler

...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! 

Spoiler

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. 

Edited April 6, 2020 by Julius