Anyone played Final Fantasy 7 Remake yet? Living up to the hype?

Sugar_Rush

The original was in a class all by itself.

None of the other FF series really held a candle to it, I think cause #7's theme was so heavily intertwined with actually human events;

It made reference to ancient civilizations, "Anunaki", cataclysmic events, use of resources, etc.

And the characters were mostly human.

Being a "fantasy" game it really merged its concept with several aspects of more relative concepts.

The other games were just pure fairy-tale.

Game play is always good but they didn't invest you in the same way.

........

All that being said, has anyone played the Remake?

How does it come across?

Being recently released it's still a little pricey on Steam etc. Also I understand it covers events only up to the escape-from-midgar?

Retr0gamer

There's good and bad to it.

The good first. It's absolutely gorgeous looking and runs great since it's been patched. The acting is very good and the music is outstanding. It really nails the look and feel of the original.

The battle system is fantastic as well. One of the best action rpg battle systems square has made.

Now the bad

The game only covers midgar which isn't a bad thing in and of itself but it drags the arse out of it. There's a lot of filler and dungeons are twice as long as they need to be. It makes it a game that's hard to play in long stretches. I found it a bit exhausting.

The game also goes kingdom hearts nonsense with by the end. And it acknowledges the god awful advent children as being canon.

johnny_ultimate

It has a great battle system and occasionally builds on the original material in smart and intelligence ways. Aerith in particular is a fantastically realised character here compared to the original.

But my god is it a tedious game to play. Outside the combat the world feels bad to explore on a pure gamefeel level, and the sheer volume of filler and terrible level design would’ve made me stop playing long before the end had it not happened to arrive when we were all stuck at home for two-three months straight. Lots of the plot is incoherent horseshit too.

It’s more bad than good IMO, and it was a major disappointment because the superb combat system at its core deserves better than this annoying, uneven mess. Other modern JRPGs like the Persona series or even the recent Xenoblade Chronicles 3 provide much more satisfying and cohesive experiences overall.

one armed dwarf

Not great for reasons already mentioned but I bet the sequel will be really good

Couldn't quite get over how bad the flat backgrounds looked, the backgrounds in Midgar in Remake look worse than the original cause of the clash in fidelity imo

Greyfox

I really enjoyed it, hope FF16 has a similar battle system and i can't wait for part 2

Nostalgia got me through the padding.. and theirs a lot of padding

nix

I couldnt stand it tbh and it was an absolute slog to get through, i feel the battle system is massivley overrated and deeply flawed. It was just heavy on the button mashy, alot less on the tactics. Maybe hard mode made you require to be more tactful, but why they feck would you want to put yourself through all that padding again and abomination of a story?

Fucking up the FF7 remake was a hard feat to achieve with me as i loved the OG, but they did a great job at making me hate it, i was expecting them to change things, but christ, terrible changes/ideas all over :(

Zero-Cool

Mixed bag in here, I absolutely loved it. Yeah, some areas were padded out but I was having so much fun with the combat, I didn't mind. I've completed, I went straight into playthrough on Hard and for the platinum. I only do that on games I reaaaaally enjoy.

If you loved the original, I definitely recommend this but like the mixed opinions above, it's hard to say whether you'll enjoy it or not but you should be the judge of that.

Potential-Monke

From someone who never played the original, because I don't like turn based or whatever that battle system is, I also didn't like the remake. The battle system, imo, was the worst of both worlds and I didn't have the nostalgia to keep going so my opinion doesn't really count. Shame, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, but those types of games just aren't for me.

Captain Flaps

Completely disagree with most of the above TBH. I thought the NPC dialogue was pretty poor, some of the backdrops weren't great and there was a lot of padding or unnecessary quests, but overall I couldn't have been much happier with the job they did at building the characters, the world and all of the gameplay additions. Yeah, some parts drag but overall it's a very worthy remake IMO.

Potential-Monke

Me suspects there's a bit of nostalgia from some people, but I do admit it's not my thing in the slightest now, having played it, so again my opinion is just that.

Sugar_Rush

Having played both and say you had to replay one

• the original or
• the remake

... which would it be?

Sugar_Rush

Possibly my favorite aspect of the original was the concept of "limit breaks";

Does that still feature in the remaster?

one armed dwarf

Yes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb6W88x3Dt4

Sugar_Rush

80 euro on steam for just over 24 hours of gameplay.

The original, entire game came in at about what.... 30 hours?

I watched some excerpts on youtube, have to say it does look awesome, and I love the voiceover from the breaking-bad meth-head.

But for 24 hours of game-play, not sure I'm compelled enough to invest 80 euros just yet.

Sugar_Rush

That being said I still think the original, even as dated as the graphics are, is still in a class all by itself, to this day.

And midgar was for me the most enjoyable setting in that game. I loved the industrial vibe crossed with that honey Aries and all the inuendo and luridness.

But 24 hours of gameplay?

Anyone not feel that leaves a little to be desired? I'd almost hold out until the entire version is released, just so I'm not left with an empty stomach.

Retr0gamer

It anything ff7 remake was too long. 12 hours would have been the perfect length. It really out stays it's welcome.

And it will be 50 in the steam sale in 8 days.

K.O.Kiki

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119756652#Comment_119756652

Took me 39 hrs (+6 for Yuffie chapter) to beat.

Worth it.

Sugar_Rush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119757344#Comment_119757344

Sounds like it dragged out the Midgar section.

The video sequences seems long AF in the youtube playthroughs.

At the same time a 12 hour video game? Hardly worth getting out of bed for.

The feeling I get is I'd play this game through in no time, probably get disillusioned with the excessive FMV's, then curse the designers for not having released the full version yet.

johnny_ultimate

I wish more games were 12 hours TBH. FF7R is one of the most egregious examples of a game damaged by trying to hit some sort of arbitrary ‘long’ running time.

Yes, it shouldn’t be 80 quid either 2.5 years after release of course, but it could easily have justified a full price release at this level of production quality and a shorter running time. It’s clear a game the size of the original FF7 would not be sustainable at this level of fidelity and detail, but ironically this is still too long for what it is.

Go with the excellent Xenoblade Chronicles 3 if you want a giant, old-school JRPG. Or one of the Persona games - 5 is out on PC very soon.

Sugar_Rush

I went ahead and got it.

First off, I can't imagine how much work goes into producing video games now a days.

The graphics are ridiculous.

The complexity alone, not taking into account the programming necessary to turn the concept into a game is intimidating.

The battle mode..... is different.

Any recommendations to play it on classic or normal?

I find myself doing a lot of button mashing.

......

What I loved most about the original was the "vibe", the atmosphere, the feeling.

Only about 20 minutes is so I can't comment on that yet but to see how far video games have evolved....... just wow.

Retr0gamer

Keep it on Normal. There's a lot of mashing but there's some nuance to some of the battles. Boss battles are a particular highlight.

Sugar_Rush

SLOWLY making my way through this.

There's so damn much happening on screen at any time, it's like a major sensory overload.

I just finished replaying the original again........ game is so damn good. Nice easy game to play through also.

Cause the vastness of the in-game world, it's gonna take time to explore and become familiar with, but so far the graphics are incredible, game play is much more involved, etc but yeah;

Sensory overload, no doubt.

one armed dwarf

imo, don't be afraid to use the command menu a lot to slow the pace down a bit. Games in general these days are kinda sensory overload, not in a way I'm fond off. Too many particle effects and screen shake, it's I guess what the zoomers like or something they do to sell HDR tvs. At the very least you can turn the screen shake down in the settings menu, and pause the game a lot to spin the camera about and see what things are happening, before inputing the next ATB command.

The way I play the game is to block a lot and take turns back slowly, rather than mashing fast. It's actually fairly clever the way they do it, the game looks like an action game but is disguised as one, it's really a turn based one but in more of a fighting game style where it's about pushing your advantage after blocking hits.

Sugar_Rush

I'm as far as falling through the church roof and battling Reno.

It was slow to get into it but this game it positively blowing me away.

It's hard to believe the game advancements in the last 20 years, the work that must go into game development, just incredible.

Feels like a throw back to video game arcade days, going nuts on Marvel SuperHero's, except from the comfort of my laptop (this is my first time playing a really modern game, ever).

............

Also insane the capability of my new HP Omen 16 Laptop, it can handle just about anything on the highest settings.

...........

We've come a long way since hunting/gathering.

Sugar_Rush

I just beat the "Hell House".

Game suddenly took a turn for the worse.

That battle was horrible.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119965939#Comment_119965939

You probably aren't blocking enough. You should be blocking all the time to build up ATB rather than attacking.

Zero-Cool

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119965939#Comment_119965939

Huh, Hell House was one of my favourite boss battles that year. Even more amazing on hard mode.

Retr0gamer

Yep same for me. Was nice to have such a good fight after the boring of the sector 6 slums and wall street. It's the battle where the battle system really clicked for me.

Sugar_Rush

I wasn't familiar with refilling that "attack" timer, holding block or "b" button on a laptop, apparently.

Retr0gamer

Got to the part where they drop the plate on Midgar. That one cutscene really highlights other flaws with this game. There's a severe lack of direction in cutscenes, restraint and subtlety. Despite the technology and higher budget this cutscene just comes across so much worse than in the original. The original is a wonderful piece of direction, the plate starts to fall you get a scene from the people below, then the TV with the new reporter panicking before it goes to static and then the pan in to the Shinra office while the president looks on with the mayhem drowned out by the classical music.

FF7R goes for explosions, the confusing introduction of Cait sith and the shot of the president over looking it all lacks any impact.

It feels like that lion king live action/CGI movie compared to the original.

Retr0gamer

After the plate collapse the game has just gone into full wheel spinning mode. That underground lab added nothing to the game and was pure filler. At least the boss was great. Now it's just clearing up side quests before the last dungeon. Real filler nonsense.

On a good note the battle system just keeps getting better. Had a mission from Chadley to master weapon arts and I only realised now how amazing they are and how I should have been using them a lot more. It also has the knock on effect of adding even more nuance to the battle system.