Final Fantasy VII Remaster/Remake

Retr0gamer

I actually really like how they are handling cloud so far.

I was worried after the character assassination carried out in the dreadful Advent Children and in subsequent spin offs and adaptations. Despite what the fanboy edgelords like to think Cloud was never an emo edgelord. He was cocky and a bit of a goofball at times and I actually think he comes across very like the Cloud from the original and in particular the more accurate PC fan translation. He is more cocky here with no sign of edgelord. I'm surprised, pleasantly surprised and hope the final game keeps it up.

I liked his interactions with Barret in the remake

Doctor Jimbob

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I actually really like how they are handling cloud so far.

I was worried after the character assassination carried out in the dreadful Advent Children and in subsequent spin offs and adaptations. Despite what the fanboy edgelords like to think Cloud was never an emo edgelord. He was cocky and a bit of a goofball at times and I actually think he comes across very like the Cloud from the original and in particular the more accurate PC fan translation. He is more cocky here with no sign of edgelord. I'm surprised, pleasantly surprised and hope the final game keeps it up.

This was my biggest worry going in, especially having avoided most of the trailers/hype up until now. Agree that he was handled well and seems very similar to the portrayal in the original. I've seen a few people online criticising Barrett for being over the top though, which kind of surprises me. He was over the top in the original as well.

Overall I was very impressed with the demo and pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the combat.

Mr.Fantastic

Finished the demo over an hour.

Wasn't gone on the combat, aesthetically it looks great though.

Only tried the FF15 style instead of classic combat.

Evade

It's been a few years since I played VII and I never got around to most of the tie in games but

Shinra didn't blow the reactor themselves before right?

endainoz

Evade wrote: »

It's been a few years since I played VII and I never got around to most of the tie in games but

Shinra didn't blow the reactor themselves before right?

They did not, but it might have been implied that they did.

Retr0gamer

It was never implied that they did. Think it was implied that they let it happen for the second one.

It probably had to be changed as public perception of terrorism/freedom fighters/whatever has changed since 9/11.

Retr0gamer

https://www.usgamer.net/articles/final-fantasy-7-remake-preview-february-2020

Kat Bailey pretty much summing up my biggest fear for the remake.

Anima

Retr0gamer wrote: »

https://www.usgamer.net/articles/final-fantasy-7-remake-preview-february-2020

Kat Bailey pretty much summing up my biggest fear for the remake.

I knew once I saw Sephiroth in the trailer that they would ruin the pacing. They're probably thinking you can't have this episode without showing him, if the next episode is years away.

The mood she talks about is spot on though and it's what is mostly memorable for me in FF7. Later games didn't really have that same atmosphere.

RedXIV

Played the demo last night, did a single playthrough but spent about an hour on it using the normal battle system.

I'm slightly more conflicted than I thought I'd be after playing it. I knew that I was getting overhyped by this anyway but some things are bugging me about and others have been happy surprises.

I found the combat difficult to get to grips with fully. Until the scorpion boss, it does feel like mash square will sort you out, but the scorpion boss was the first time in a long time I've felt panic in an RPG boss battle as it's a very interesting mechanic that you can't heal without attacking to build your ATB bar. I think there is a bit of depth there I definitely still need to master but the jumping around between characters is not something I've gotten comfortable with yet. In saying that, for the smaller enemy battles, my concern is these will get dull if you're seeing the same 3/4 animations from smashing square while running around, especially over 3 games, or however many we're expecting to get. I'm hoping the different characters, new weapons and maybe an increase in the number of ATB bars will make it more varying, but we'll have to see.

I really enjoyed seeing areas of the original game in fancy high def, the intro movie in particular is very well done and simple things like reading the posters on the walls are nice touches. Thanks to seeing the one about "Stamp" in the train station at the start, a lot of Barret's references later made sense which they wouldn't have if I hadn't been looking, so the "reward" for exploration is there in my mind which I enjoy. But I'd echo others here in that there are definitely parts of the graphics that seem off. And what really throws is some elements will look fantastic and others will then look very out of place. Hoping some of this is resolved before the release or with a patch.

Audio was great and I like the new take on existing tracks. I am actually really happy with the voice acting so far and this is the most accurate version of Cloud I've seen Square throw out in years. I like him doing his sly digs at Barret, who seems to be constantly ready to explode (I love stereotype Barret, I know it's not PC but I think he's hilarious), and his casual indifference is a lot better than the advent children version of Cloud. Even detected a slight hint of flirting with Jessie there which I'd be all for.

The story amendment Evade called out also sits very well with me. I think it shows a greater level of political intrigue and allows for a lot of future potential in how the Shinra interact with Avalanche. But I'd echo again what Retr0 and others said about the pacing, the original's starting mission is fantastic, this feels a bit drawn out. It's better than other long corridors which other games have but it just drags a bit too long for me. I'm hoping for more in term of "slow" segments, where you get to explore the slums, talk to the inhabitants etc, creating dungeons for what were only a few mins long previously has a feel of filler.

Big irritation I had was the camera. For whatever reason it kept moving all over the place, usually falling to the level of Cloud's ankles and shooting up towards the ceiling. I was constantly pressing reset when I was running around the field. It didn't seem to happen in the fights but out exploring, it's a pain in the hoop.

I've already paid my preorder so I'm looking forward to getting my hands on it when it does release, but I think I needed this demo to ground some of my more unrealistic expectations

endainoz

RedXIV wrote: »

Big irritation I had was the camera. For whatever reason it kept moving all over the place, usually falling to the level of Cloud's ankles and shooting up towards the ceiling. I was constantly pressing reset when I was running around the field. It didn't seem to happen in the fights but out exploring, it's a pain in the hoop.

I've already paid my preorder so I'm looking forward to getting my hands on it when it does release, but I think I needed this demo to ground some of my more unrealistic expectations

I didn't have the same issues with the camera, I know it moved around itself for some of the set piece type action stuff but nowhere near to the degree your describing. Possibly a calibration issue with your controller?

I think it's no harm expectations are grounded a little. I really enjoyed the demo but we will have to see if I'd maintain that interest for the full game. I think it looks good but not spectacular. I haven't pre ordered yet, probably will from Smyth's soon enough so it arrives on the day of release. I don't pre order much, last one was Red dead 2 before that was, ugh mafia 3. (Yes I know)

McFly85

Played it last night, really enjoyed it. Loved the new gameplay, feels like there’ll be a decent challenge there, and have been reading that each previewed boss fight feels distinct which is great news.

Can understand people issue with pacing, however in the original and remake the first reactor is used as a gameplay tutorial, and the remake has a few more mechanics it’s introducing us to which might throw it off a bit-it might not be the same in the final build.

Anyway, roll on April 10th!

nullObjects

When you say the game won't go past Midgar, do you mean this installment / phase won't go past Midgar or in total they are only going to remake that much of it an that's it?

Sephiroth_dude

nullObjects wrote: »

When you say the game won't go past Midgar, do you mean this installment / phase won't go past Midgar or in total they are only going to remake that much of it an that's it?

This episode or whatever you want to call it won't go past midgar, which is disappointing.

Retr0gamer

Actually the camera in Combat was utter ****e. Reminded me of the terrible camera in Ninja Gaiden but even more annoying.

YouSavedMyLife

There are camera distance options that make the combat and field exploration much better.

Game is fantastic and i wish we didn't get a single chapter in 1 month from now. Its going to be tough to resist the urge to buy Chapter 1, and at the same time knowing that its not the full game. I'm conflicted

The boss fight felt really great, but as Red said above, normal enemy encounters are a spam square fest. Early part of the game so that could change. I wonder how they will do the open world sections of the game.

Padre_Pio

Was it just my and my dodgy Indonesian PSN account, or was everyones game text in Japanese?

lordlame

Hmm I think the camera is different to the leaked version I played. Not sure if placebo or not

Shapey Fiend

The game looks glorious.

I didn't much enjoy the combat system however. This mishmash of real time with turn based and all the switching feels a bit hectic to me and I'm too much of a try hard to play on easy. I'm starting to think I may be better going to Yakuza 7 for my turn based fix (I like Yakuza 0's action gameplay but I've a yen for something more armchair ATM).

Zero-Cool

Loved the demo. The graphics, music, chitchat, even his hair, all glorious. Really like the new combat got the swing of it fairly fast and i can see the potential for strategic fights once the enemies start getting more varied.

Overall, it was a breath of fresh air, perfect mix of newness and nostalgia.

My only worry is how they're going to make a 70 euro game out of Midgar. I wish the devs would give a planned outlook even if it might change. I know they said chapter 2 is well in. Development, at least five us the outline of what it might cover.

quokula

Less excited about this after playing the demo than I was before it.

The initial intro gave me goosebumps, as did a couple of other moments that recreated iconic scenes in glorious detail. Music was great, voice acting was ok, not outstanding but didn’t get in the way.

But I didn’t get on with the combat. Played in Normal mode, will need to try classic when the full game comes out but not feeling motivated to play through the demo again to try it.

The problem was partly the real-time chaotic nature of it all, but also the non stop nature of it, the demo felt like 90% of it was combat, I know in the original there were constant random battles in many areas but it never felt so relentless.

Given that you spend almost all of your time in combat, and combat is like an entirely different genre never mind a different game, it ended up feeling nothing like FF7 to me, outside of the cut scenes and music.

Nothing is going to stop me getting the full version and hopefully the pacing is better when you get out of the reactor. But I worry from the demo that they’ve turned Midgar into a 50 hour game by having no additional meaningful content, but filling every area you traverse with mini bosses who take an age to take down. I’m already dreading the thought of trudging through the train graveyard now. I hope I’m wrong.

F1ngers

Have to say I enjoyed the demo, nice little jaunt down memory lane.
Don't think I'll buy it though, at least not full price anyway.

Anyone else notice Wedge was voiced by Badger from Breaking Bad.

Padre_Pio

F1ngers wrote: »

Have to say I enjoyed the demo, nice little jaunt down memory lane.
Don't think I'll buy it though, at least not full price anyway.

Anyone else notice Wedge was voiced by Badger from Breaking Bad.

Yep, agree.

It's a bit of fun, I'll definitely play it when it's released in it's entirety. I've waited 5 years so far for a quarter of a game. I'll wait another few for the full one.

B.A._Baracus

On that question, when do people think the entire game will be complete?
2023? 2024?

one armed dwarf

I don't see how it gets complete before 2028.

They took 5 years to just remake the prologue. The rest should be quicker, but that's still a very long turn around.

Tbh, they will have to compromise at some point and make some hard decisions here. I don't expect them to remake every part of the game.

RedXIV

B.A._Baracus wrote: »

On that question, when do people think the entire game will be complete?
2023? 2024?

With the majority of the engine work likely done, which should be shared across each of the games, you're looking at minor tweaks to the engine but huge investments in graphical assets. In saying that, Squarenix have a huge team, so I wouldn't be surprised to see Episode 2 available late 2021, early 2022, and then Episode 3 at the end of 2023.

And you can bet they'll tack on DLC as well for 2024. This has been the sacred cash cow for Square Enix for decades, they will certainly milk this one

Retr0gamer

How long is a piece of string.

Riesen_Meal

I enjoyed the demo but couldn't get the knack of the battle system, I was just Mish mashing the buttons, couldn't really get the timing correct but did manage to finish the demo...

Maybe I should have tried the "classic" mode...

fixXxer

I wasn't going to play it... then I downloaded just in case, then I cracked.

The music is fantastic. Really enjoyed hearing a full blown updated version of the tunes as I played. I thought it looked great too imho. Minor camera issue with Barret in one section where it was trying to zoom back but couldn't go far enough so i couldn't see what I was shooting. The combat was pretty different to what I was expecting, playing in default mode not classic. Has a sort of ff12/Dragon Age Origins feel to it or something. There's definitely something I've played recently where times slows down while you make decisions but doesn't stop. Attacking was handy enough, but defending seems tricky. I had 21 potions for the Scorpion Tank fight and must have used most of them to get through it. I can feel where its been stretched out, the extra interactions with Jessie as you go to and come back from planting the bomb, things like that.

Definitely enjoyed it, left it wanting to play more and more to see what else is new/different/updated.

My only major concern is was there any need to show Sephiroth at the end? As far as I remember from playing FF7, you hardly got to see him for most of the game. He was an ominous presence that scared the crap out of you because when he showed up it meant something big was happening. If the game is going to be made bigger, I doubt they'll be able to hold off using him much more which may dilute how intimidating he is.

B.A._Baracus

one armed dwarf wrote: »

I don't see how it gets complete before 2028.

They took 5 years to just remake the prologue. The rest should be quicker, but that's still a very long turn around.

Tbh, they will have to compromise at some point and make some hard decisions here. I don't expect them to remake every part of the game.

RedXIV wrote: »

With the majority of the engine work likely done, which should be shared across each of the games, you're looking at minor tweaks to the engine but huge investments in graphical assets. In saying that, Squarenix have a huge team, so I wouldn't be surprised to see Episode 2 available late 2021, early 2022, and then Episode 3 at the end of 2023.

And you can bet they'll tack on DLC as well for 2024. This has been the sacred cash cow for Square Enix for decades, they will certainly milk this one

Retr0gamer wrote: »

How long is a piece of string.

Another thing I just thought about is the PS5 coming out this year.
So come 2024 (for example) surely you'll be getting next generation versions of the game along side current. Probably with part 1 included with part 2 (etc)

I wonder if that will cause more time tacked on