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[fireflame]

Final Fantasy 15 is a good news for all FF fans who had fear about the future of the series. Its success has saved the IP from the pit. However, with the upcoming remake of FF7, i cannot help but have some fears about how episodes will be received.

Episodic model negatively impacted Hitman, published by Square Enix. With FF7, the risk might be increased by nostalgia and temptation to compare the remake with the original game. The original rpg had an incredible amount of content, including optional quests and fans may be disappointed if some of the mythic side quest are going to miss: chocobo breeding, fighting massive optional bosses, etc

I make the link between optional quests and episodic release because in my mind, it may be hard to have the possibility to come back in previous places, the way you did it in the original game.Those three episodes are going to be huge, a lot of in game events are probably scripted, and overall i wonder if implementing most popular side quest will be compatible with the technology and philosophy of the three episodes.

There might also be a risk that some fans prefer to wait for the release of the three episodes to be over, rather than buy each episode right when they come.

How do you think Tetsuya Nomura will face those challenges?

 

[Kurdel]

Yeah it could.

 

[Maintenance]

Could Final Fantasy remake 7 greatly suffer from episodic release?

You think?

 

[KZXcellent]

I feel like it won't be comparable to Hitman since it's not episodic. It's simply telling the story over multiple full games. The only risk they're running is if the first entry is a bad game or under-performs and causes issues.

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

Episodic release wil be fine.

Original game was split into discs. Basically the same deal

 

[Betty]

Absolutely yes.

Episode 1 might come out this gen, but the next 2 or 3 parts, no chance of making it before next gen.

So then they'll be stuck having to choose to port episode 1 and update it's graphics to look on part with next gen machines

or

Wait to release episode 1 next gen along with the rest of the episodes.

Either way, it's gonna be a long time until it's done.

 

[DecoReturns]

Depends how they handle it.

 

[Maintenance]

Episodic release wil be fine.

Original game was split into discs. Basically the same deal

Strange, I don't remember having to wait years to play Disc 2 after finishing Disc 1. Not even close to the same deal.

 

[AmyS]

Push it out to 2020 or 2021, release it complete on both PS4 and PS5.

 

[Artanisix]

My main concern with FF7R is how the hell do they break the game up into, what is it, three meaningful chunks (did they say it was going to be three separate episodes)? Are we going to be waiting three to four years inbetween each release? Yes, there is a lot of content in FF7, but I feel like cutting the story anywhere makes it reaaaally awkward and cliffhangery.

Imagine if the end of FF7R-2 ended with Aeris being killed. I'd be furious.

 

[DR2K]

Depends on how many episodes, price, content, quality, and release schedule. I don't want to wait another 10 years for another episode.

 

[Human Trashcan]

We'll find out if we're still alive to see it in 2022 when it releases, maybe

I have no idea what this game is gonna be but imagine playing FF7 with months (years) breaks in between every disc or something. Sounds totally awful. Remembering who has what materia, what the hell you were doing... But then I think this game is gonna be a horrible frankenstein's monster anyway. I don't see it turning out well at all.

 

[Napalm_Frank]

One danger it faces I think is if the sales/hype plummet after the first episode releases and people play it and by the time third episode or so rolls in it's made with much lesser budget ect.

 

[Flowmoney]

Only episode one will be on current consoles.

 

[NoctisVsStar]

It's probably just a trilogy of games that's all, like the multiple discs the OG release had.

 

[Squire]

That's going to compound on top of another protracted dev cycle for sure.

Because now we're not just talking about a release at the end of a console generation, but part 1 of a series. Strong potential to turn into a nightmare.

 

[Roboculus]

They have always referred to the "episodic" releases as being stand-alone games like the FFXIII trilogy. I don't think it will have the same problem that Hitman had sales-wise (even if gameplay-wise I thought the game benefited from the model).

The biggest concerns will be having to wait until 2025 for all the games to come out and possibly being upset about any new material that gets added (like the Hobbit movies).

 

[Bronetta]

I see sales continuing to drop for each subsequent entry.

The episodic model works for smaller games which can push out new episodes monthly. People arent gonna want to wait 10+ years to finish what may very well be a mediocre trilogy. I dont trust Square Enix to not bungle it up.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

It's not an episodic title though. It's essentially a series, with multiple full games.

 

[LelouchZero]

My main concern with FF7R is how the hell do they break the game up into, what is it, three meaningful chunks (did they say it was going to be three separate episodes)? Are we going to be waiting three to four years inbetween each release? Yes, there is a lot of content in FF7, but I feel like cutting the story anywhere makes it reaaaally awkward and cliffhangery.

Imagine if the end of FF7R-2 ended with Aeris being killed. I'd be furious.

Final Fantasy 7's PS1 release has 3 discs/parts, I suppose the if the remake has 3 parts each part could end like the original did.

 

[Fantastapotamus]

We'll be dead before the first episode comes out, so it doesn't matter

 

[Kouriozan]

I will suffer as I always play my games in one go and almost never go back to it but I'm fine with waiting a few years then picking up the cheaper complete game.
Recent example would be RE Revelaitons 2 that I completely skipped despite 100%ing the first game on 3DS and PC.

 

[paolo11]

Push it out to 2020 or 2021, release it complete on both PS4 and PS5.

I'd rather go with this route to be honest.

 

[YankeeDonB]

I think it might. Particularly given how they've dealt with XV - adding lots of QOL and side content post-release. I like the game, but it's really made me pine for the days when what was on disc day 1 was the whole experience.

Good JRPGs let you sink in and marinate in the world, character and stories. I don't think episodic approach will compliment this....

 

[Human Trashcan]

It's not an episodic title though. It's essentially a series, with multiple full games.

hahahahaha i'm glad they sold off IO to fund this completely terrible idea hahahakillme

 

[JayEH]

It's not episodic like hitman. Square has never used the term episodes. They're breaking it up into multiple games and used the FF13 trilogy as an example. From that we can assume three games coming out hopefully within a couple years of each other.

I have no issue with this but sales will of course drop off between games.

 

[Squire]

It's not an episodic title though. It's essentially a series, with multiple full games.

It's one continuous narrative though. They're not going to radically alter the story to the point you can skip one part and play another, so it's ultimately episodic either way.

I think it might. Particularly given how they've dealt with XV - adding lots of QOL and side content post-release. I like the game, but it's really made me pine for the days when what was on disc day 1 was the whole experience.

Good JRPGs let you sink in and marinate in the world, character and stories. I don't think episodic approach will compliment this....

It seems like this is going to be episodic in the same way the Trails games are and they've had great success with the bolded. Those games are made on an incredibly modest budget though and Falcom has their priorities straight in a way SE doesn't.

It can be done. Can SE do it? Who can say.

 

[NoctisVsStar]

I think it might. Particularly given how they've dealt with XV - adding lots of QOL and side content post-release. I like the game, but it's really made me pine for the days when what was on disc day 1 was the whole experience.

Good JRPGs let you sink in and marinate in the world, character and stories. I don't think episodic approach will compliment this....

Well if they want to be faithful and keep everything somewhat Intact with modern conventions they have to do this to justify the cost and this new approach.. inb4 people just wanted fresh hd coat ala crash.

 

[anothertech]

It's possible. But it could also greatly enhance the experience.

 

[Nose Master]

It's awkward to treat this game as a tangible product that will ever exist. The hype will be at such a point in ten years time, when part 1 launches, that the only people that care will be masochists.

 

[-Horizon-]

I could definitely see sales dropping in each subsequent release.
I'm gonna need to see what the quality of the first part is like though before I come to a real conclusion.

 

[NoctisVsStar]

It's awkward to treat this game as a tangible product that will ever exist. The hype will be at such a point in ten years time, when part 1 launches, that the only people that care will be masochists.

There's plenty of other games to play in the meantime plus life.

 

[APZonerunner]

I think the big thing is that I believe even with the FF7 name Square will see similarly large drops to FF13's sequels, where part 2 and part 3 sell somewhere between 50% and 70% of the previous entry. Their pipeline needs to be built so part 2 & 3 (or however many) are significantly less expensive else it could financially prove a bad move.

This is where it worries me, incidentally - depending on how the games are split, what material they use from across the compilation to pad it out and so on, part 2 and 3 could be a lot more expensive than the heavy asset reuse assembly line development of FF13-2 and LR. That's the challenge; if the drop off is similar but development more expensive, that's bad.

 

[Mikey Jr.]

hahahahaha i'm glad they sold off IO to fund this completely terrible idea hahahakillme

One episode of FF7 will probably sell more than Hitman sold, 5 times over.

If someone wants to wait 10 years for all 3-4 episodes, then that is probably super small segment of the market, and I doubt SE gives a damn.

 

[Ray Down]

They need some plan, there really shouldn't be huge gap between titles with out something to make people care or people won't care and lose interest.

Especially if the game isn't amazing.

 

[Huge Succeeded]

I think that people heard 'Episodic' and shut their brains off. I don't think that an episodic approach to an uncompromised modern Final Fantasy 7 remake could not possibly turn out worse than the alternative. for anyone.

 

[Squire]

The whole thing is a logistics nightmare. I don't envy them.

 

[NinjaCoachZ]

We don't even know how they're going to manage the split release. In the case that each are full-sized games as they're saying, then obviously there'll probably be a sales dropoff as they go on. The plus side is they can take feedback as they go along.

I think one real challenge would be figuring out where to split up each part. I know it's easy to say Part 1 could be Midgar. But at the end of the day, as huge as it is, Midgar is such a small fraction of what FFVII had to offer that people might be disappointed if Part 1 comes out and that's it. They need to have enough so that each part is meaty, while clearly leaving promising signs of what's coming next.

But again, we don't even know how they're going to manage it so it's hard to really make any conclusions beyond that.

I think the big thing is that I believe even with the FF7 name Square will see similarly large drops to FF13's sequels, where part 2 and part 3 sell somewhere between 50% and 70% of the previous entry. Their pipeline needs to be built so part 2 & 3 (or however many) are significantly less expensive else it could financially prove a bad move.

This is where it worries me, incidentally - depending on how the games are split, what material they use from across the compilation to pad it out and so on, part 2 and 3 could be a lot more expensive than the heavy asset reuse assembly line development of FF13-2 and LR. That's the challenge; if the drop off is similar but development more expensive, that's bad.

Excellent point.

 

[KZXcellent]

I think that people heard 'Episodic' and shut their friggin' brains off.

Square never even said it would be episodic. When it first broke in Dec of 2015 they said it would be "Multiple Parts" and each one would be comparable to full game. I don't think it can be compared to Telltale, Life is Strange or Hitman. Way bigger in scope.

 

[Quixz]

I would only worry about the 3rd episode

 

[Asd202]

Push it out to 2020 or 2021, release it complete on both PS4 and PS5.

The problem is even if it was 2020 or 2021 there is no way they would be able to make a complete remake. Considering Part I will be late 2019 at the earliest with Midgar only.

 

[Huge Succeeded]

Square never even said it would be episodic. When it first broke in Dec of 2015 they said it would be "Multiple Parts" and each one would be comparable to full game. I don't think it can be compared to Telltale, Life is Strange or Hitman. Way bigger in scope.

Exactly.

 

[Seth]

I think we should just wait until we know exactly what its going to be.

 

[Ray Down]

I think the big thing is that I believe even with the FF7 name Square will see similarly large drops to FF13's sequels, where part 2 and part 3 sell somewhere between 50% and 70% of the previous entry. Their pipeline needs to be built so part 2 & 3 (or however many) are significantly less expensive else it could financially prove a bad move.

This is where it worries me, incidentally - depending on how the games are split, what material they use from across the compilation to pad it out and so on, part 2 and 3 could be a lot more expensive than the heavy asset reuse assembly line development of FF13-2 and LR. That's the challenge; if the drop off is similar but development more expensive, that's bad.

Also this, will be interesting how exactly they plan this out and how concrete everything is.

Is it a solid foundation that will support the whole thing, or crumble down eventually under the weight.

 

[fireflame]

One episode of FF7 will probably sell more than Hitman sold, 5 times over.

If someone wants to wait 10 years for all 3-4 episodes, then that is probably super small segment of the market, and I doubt SE gives a damn.

5 times over would mean about 2,5-3 million sales for each episode. Would it be enough to cover the cost of development for each episode? A lot of people wrote off Hitman because of episodic release, i dont know overall how an ip that has a huge comunity of fans can retain them if it goes to episodic release, there are not many examples in fact.

 

[Jotakori]

As others have said, it's more like multiple complete games so it's not exactly like Hitman.
I imagine each part will have less sales than the previous, but I don't think the parts aspect will be a major problem beyond that.

They're working with CyberConnect which worked on the .hack series -- that was also one series broken up into parts. In that, everything carried over and you could still go back to the same locations from the previous games. So I'm really imagining something similar going down. Some quests may be locked to which game you're playing, but I also feel like it probably wouldn't be impossible to make them accessible in later games, too? (So long as it makes sense to have access to them, I suppose)

So my only real worry, is that with sales dropping off it may be deemed too expensive to bother with doing more parts. I stg if they only do one or two parts and never finish the series I'll wither up and die from my thirst.

 

[Mikey Jr.]

5 times over would mean about 2,5-3 million sales for each episode. Would it be enough to cover the cost of development for each episode?

Ok, then 10 times over.

Just a random number I threw out, lol.

FF7 remake will sell gangbusters. Like, more than FFXV, and that sold very well for SE. They are very happy with FFXV sales.

So I'm unsure why everyone thinks the sky is falling.

Each "episode" is a full game, probably 40-ish hours I would think. So it'll be fine.

Everyone hears "episodic" and starts sharting their pants. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say a very small percentage of people will decide to wait for all parts to release. Stop comparing this to Telltale garbage that has 2 hours of gameplay, and release every 2 months. Well yeah, no shit people wait for everything. In a few months, all parts will be out regardless.

 

[Plumpbiscuit]

If the PS5 rumour is true, we could be seeing episodes split across console generations... just think about that.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

It's one continuous narrative though. They're not going to radically alter the story to the point you can skip one part and play another, so it's ultimately episodic either way.

I disagree, it just depends on how they split the different parts IMO. If part 1 is Midgar you could easily skip it and start with part 2, especially with the whole Nibelheim flashback at Kalm that gives you a lot of backstory. Part 3 could start after awakening of the WEAPONs for example, where the original had a time skip (of a few months if I recall correctly) and the world was significantly altered.

If people can skip KH games and start half-through the series, I'm sure they will be fine with FFVII:R.

 

[Asd202]

If the PS5 rumour is true, we could be seeing episodes split across console generations... just think about that.

Not could this will be happening. There is no way they will complete this project on PS4.