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Combination of reusing of assessts and drama. Cloud thinks back to his mother after meeting Elmyra.

Square Enix has this really arrogant / fucking stupid habit of having a "No Entry Left Behind" policy when it comes to their games, whether they're trash or not.

FFXIII? Made on a shit engine with terrible issues? Lets make it a trilogy. FFXIII's story was nonsensical? Cool, both of the sequels are time travel plots.

FFX did well on ps2? Let's make a sequel to that too. Then lets make a dumbass book where tidus kicks a blitzball and gets his head blown off. And then lets try to make it canon with FF7 because why the fuck not

FFXIV is a piece of shit game? Let's not just remake it, but lets make the remaking canon. (this actually works though)

FFXV would be a masterpiece of a game if it were just a fully complete game? Fuck that, lets split the narrative up into an Anime, a full-length CG movie, and FOUR pieces of DLC that are cut directly from the game itself.


With FF7R, it seems as though Square's business division simply cannot let go the brilliant idea of making EVERY piece of FF7 material ever created canon, and thus important, and thus able to be repackaged/revisited to turn a profit.

It's literally what they said their business model was all about.



The writing in the ending of this game takes such a massive heelturn that it's immediately obvious the moment Nomura's writing begins.

"The world isn't gonna end today...........but YOU......"

...what?

And then Aerith starts talking like a dreamy Kingdom Hearts sequel teaser and the ending tops it off with some entirely cryptic nonsensical bullshit that is impossible to decipher because he's talking about plot points that literally don't exist (LITERALLY, as in there is no internal established story for this shit, they just wrote something stupid that appears to mean something because it includes the number 7 in it) and we're left with an ending that can mean everything but can also mean nothing


And this hurts my soul to talk about because i'm in Shinra HQ in my Hard Mode playthrough at this moment, and the work put into this game is fucking phenomenal and it blows my mind how close they got to the original PS1 FF feel with this game. It just really hurts to know that it's probably going to be wasted on another FFXIII-caliber word salad story, and never again on a beginning-to-end contained and complete FF narrative like the original FF7 / FF8 / FF9.


The reason the ending of this game drives me crazy isn't even because of what happens....it's because it very clearly suffers from a VERY different style of writing from 98% of the game.

It completely throws away the methodical, deliberate, gameplay-driven storytelling in this game and replaces it with cryptic craziness and confusion, and dialogue that goes beyond Anime and really can only be described as "Nomura".

Most sequels from square are a result of needing something out while they work on something more important.

FFx-2 because 12 was troubled. FFXIII - 2/3 because XIV was troubled. XIII -2 uses time travel because it allowed them to use as many assessts from XIII as possible. FXV had multimedia because making a 90 min movie makes more than including a playable sequence at the start, and free animes for the ad revenue - all of which to pay for luminous and the long distance between single player mainline FFs. VII's compilation was oddly enough the set of games NOT made out of a necessity.

Nomura did not write this game. He did help come up with OG and that was finalized by Nojima (the writer for this game) and Kitase (the producer of this game).

 

[93xfan]

I think the Sephiroth portal ending was the only way we could have Cloud in Smash Bros.

Otherwise it just makes no sense.

 

[Shifty1897]

Spoiler: Random musings on the ending

I finished FFVIIR tonight. After the credits rolled, I sat in the dark for a long time thinking about the ending. Was it good? Was it bad? Was it so bad it was good? Much like Nick Cage's acting, we may never know the truth. Perhaps there is no universal truth and our lives our meaningless, much like Sephiroth telling Cloud he has seven seconds until the end and what matters is what he chooses to do with it, only for Cloud to just sort of vibe out on a concrete platform in outer space until the screen fades to black.

After finally allowing myself to open this thread and read through a few of the 26 pages, I still find myself torn. Did the remake unshackle itself from the plot of the original game? I've always been very vocal about how I thought the plot of FFVII was an overrated, incomprehensible mess, and now the writers are free from it. But do I trust them to write something better? After playing FFXIII AND FFXV, the plot of the original FFVII seems good enough, comparatively.

Other notes:
Marlene looks at a plant and then calls out for her dad? What part of Barret is plant-like? He's the opposite of a plant.
Is Zack alive now, or is he only alive in another timeline? If he's alive now, he never would have given Cloud the buster sword or motivated him to take Zack's identity in all but name, and Zack would have definitely went straight to see Aerith, thereby undoing the events of FFVIIR.
Also I feel sorry for people who never played the original game and are left with questions like: Who is Marlene's mom? How did Barret lose an arm? Why does Cloud have headaches? Who is this black haired SOLDIER carrying Cloud at the end, we never hear his name? What's with the cutscenes flashbacks at the end of the game? Etc. More filler for parts two and three I guess.

At the rate they're going, there's no way the remake will ever be completely finished unless they completely spin off from the original's plot.

 

[Rentahamster]

I've always been very vocal about how I thought the plot of FFVII was an overrated, incomprehensible mess

What didn't you like about the OG?

Marlene looks at a plant and then calls out for her dad? What part of Barret is plant-like? He's the opposite of a plant.

She just felt his presence out there. I don't think it has anything to do with the plant. That's just creative camera framing, and any suggestion that Barret is related to the plant is coincidental.

Is Zack alive now, or is he only alive in another timeline? If he's alive now, he never would have given Cloud the buster sword or motivated him to take Zack's identity in all but name, and Zack would have definitely went straight to see Aerith, thereby undoing the events of FFVIIR.

Probably a different reality or timeline. We don't know yet if this new twist follows Back to the Future time travel rules, Terminator time travel rules, or Avengers Endgame time travel rules.

 

[Arkam]

OMG why is Chapter 14 soo bad?!?!? Game til here has been a fairly organic/waterfall experience. Now its semi open world.... in the rats nest SE called level deign?!?! No lie this SUX hard. Makes the FF12 map/level design seem decent (and they were absolute trash) SE needs to step up they environment design if they want to keep me next chapter. This strings/hooks map design just dont cut it. Make a (very basic) grid design like the rest of the world and see how that feels.

 

[Boneless]

OMG why is Chapter 14 soo bad?!?!? Game til here has been a fairly organic/waterfall experience. Now its semi open world.... in the rats nest SE called level deign?!?! No lie this SUX hard. Makes the FF12 map/level design seem decent (and they were absolute trash) SE needs to step up they environment design if they want to keep me next chapter. This strings/hooks map design just dont cut it. Make a (very basic) grid design like the rest of the world and see how that feels.

Get ready, it will keep getting worse.

 

[Nankatsu]

lol at hell house on hard. Fuck this shit.

 

[Moochi]

Maybe FF7 remake 2 will be like

Spoiler

FF-8 with two timelines, with the "Zach survives" timeline and the new timeline crossing over. I can totally see them doing a "Roxas" and having remake two cover part of the Crisis Core material with Zack playable.

 

[Lethal01]

Get ready, it will keep getting worse.

What? no? from here on it's not open world at all.

 

[Rentahamster]

Huh, so that's why Aerith does a strange horse laugh.



It's probably more obvious in Japanese. I still gotta do a JPN language playthrough.

 

[Lethal01]

Huh, so that's why Aerith does a strange horse laugh.



It's probably more obvious in Japanese. I still gotta do a JPN language playthrough.

So what you are saying is that the dubbing process does nothing but introduce issues and anyone that can read should stick to sub.
I got you.

 

[Rentahamster]

So what you are saying is that the dubbing process does nothing but introduce issues and anyone that can read should stick to sub.
I got you.

Real talk though, the English VA of FF7R did a very good job.

 

[Lethal01]

Real talk though, the English VA of FF7R did a very good job.

I like the voices. But a lot of the time I enjoy it on the same level I enjoy Kingdom Hearts voice acting, It's so awkward and clunky and for me that's it's charm but I wouldn't tell anyone it's good.

I'd say most native AAA games have better voicework.

That said it's hard to separate the acting itself from the problems caused by it being a dub...... The VA in this shine the most in the banter outside of cutscenes where the voice actors don't have to match the original animation as much so I guess that's what I should use to judge the actors themselves.

Anyway, nothing but respect for the dubbers,
Just Like I got nothing but respect for the guys who got Witcher 3 running on switch..
But you gotta be crazy to choose that version over playing on PC

 

[DragoonKain]

I finally beat the game for the first time. The original is my favorite game ever. I'm going to take some time reading through this thread but will post some thoughts here as well. I thought it was a good game. To me the original is still better, but I thought it was well done. I think it gets exponentially better chapter 14 on. Chapter 14-18 are like 70% of the game it feels like. Early on it was feeling a little filler-y and corridor-y and linear bloated with sidequests and invisible walls. But that's JRPGs these days. I didn't expect it to play like a JRPG, though I wish a remake could be, it's just not gonna happen. So I'll say so far while it's not the remake I always dreamed of, It bested my expectations(because they were low) and it was well done. Best FF I've played since 10.

I thought it was pretty loyal to the original for the most part. They tried to build on Midgar, the relationships, the characters and the world. I liked and appreciated that. What I didn't like though and what I worry, the rest are spoilers for both the original and this so I'll mark it with spoilers because it has spoilers from the original as well:

Spoiler

I hate "fate" and "destiny" themes in games, movies, TV. HATE them. It's what ruined Game of Thrones for me at the end. It makes everything feel trivial because something is predestined. I think destiny themes are put in because they feel and are perceived as thematically and intellectually complex, but they really aren't. I think they're lazy and pretentious. I sincerely SINCERELY hope they didn't introduce these "whispers of fate" to find a way to keep Aerith alive and change fate. I swear if that happens I will immediately hit eject, take the disc out and never play another Final Fantasy game again for the rest of my life. It would be to cater to the whiny crowd who can't handle main character deaths. If they wanna add to the story, alter some stuff... fine. But save Aerith? I sincerely hope that isn't where this is headed. I also didn't like how this one ended. I get they had to end it in epic fashion, but fighting some odd form of Sephiroth was too much for this entry. Save that for the final episode, not this game. I honestly thought this was gonna pull an HBO Series spoiler: Game of Thrones with the Night King and kill Sephiroth in this. I would have disavowed SquareEnix forever if they did that lol. Even though I realized after the fight it wasn't technically him. Or I don't think anyway.

I also didn't like getting Bahamut this early. You didn't get him til WAAAAY later in the original. Yes, I'm going to be a pretty big stickler for the original since it's my favorite game ever. Can't help it. Alter some stuff, ok. Change too much and I'm out and won't play future episodes.

I'm still digesting all this. But TL;DR, my final verdict was

Gameplay: Very good
Character development: Very good
Plot: Meh


Edit:

I read some of the pages, just too much to read through the whole thread again. What's the consensus, early on people were pissed off. Having played it yourselves do you guys still dislike it or did you come around to it?

I'm ok with it as long as they still find their way back to the original. If they change it, I agree, it was a little bait and switch-y. Because here's my thing: if they originally intended to totally divert the plot in an entirely new direction then why string us along for like 90% of the game being very loyal to the original only to then change it up? If you wanted to totally reimagine the plot, then why not start the entire thing that way from the beginning?

The fact that they took great efforts to be loyal to most of it gives me some hope these are just some new additions, but the main story will be mostly consistent with the original. At least I hope.

 

[DryPancakes]

if they originally intended to totally divert the plot in an entirely new direction then why string us along for like 90% of the game being very loyal to the original only to then change it up?

A lot of people have been saying they want to keep the old playerbase happy by giving them what they want but also make new things to be surpirsing and shocking because the old plot is not new anymore therefore it can't be enjoyed the same way anymore (or something), honestly is just frustrating, it gives you a taste of what could have been just to take it away.

 

[Dacon]

Square Enix has this really arrogant / fucking stupid habit of having a "No Entry Left Behind" policy when it comes to their games, whether they're trash or not.

FFXIII? Made on a shit engine with terrible issues? Lets make it a trilogy. FFXIII's story was nonsensical? Cool, both of the sequels are time travel plots.

FFX did well on ps2? Let's make a sequel to that too. Then lets make a dumbass book where tidus kicks a blitzball and gets his head blown off. And then lets try to make it canon with FF7 because why the fuck not

FFXIV is a piece of shit game? Let's not just remake it, but lets make the remaking canon. (this actually works though)

FFXV would be a masterpiece of a game if it were just a fully complete game? Fuck that, lets split the narrative up into an Anime, a full-length CG movie, and FOUR pieces of DLC that are cut directly from the game itself.


With FF7R, it seems as though Square's business division simply cannot let go the brilliant idea of making EVERY piece of FF7 material ever created canon, and thus important, and thus able to be repackaged/revisited to turn a profit.

It's literally what they said their business model was all about.



The writing in the ending of this game takes such a massive heelturn that it's immediately obvious the moment Nomura's writing begins.

"The world isn't gonna end today...........but YOU......"

...what?

And then Aerith starts talking like a dreamy Kingdom Hearts sequel teaser and the ending tops it off with some entirely cryptic nonsensical bullshit that is impossible to decipher because he's talking about plot points that literally don't exist (LITERALLY, as in there is no internal established story for this shit, they just wrote something stupid that appears to mean something because it includes the number 7 in it) and we're left with an ending that can mean everything but can also mean nothing


And this hurts my soul to talk about because i'm in Shinra HQ in my Hard Mode playthrough at this moment, and the work put into this game is fucking phenomenal and it blows my mind how close they got to the original PS1 FF feel with this game. It just really hurts to know that it's probably going to be wasted on another FFXIII-caliber word salad story, and never again on a beginning-to-end contained and complete FF narrative like the original FF7 / FF8 / FF9.


The reason the ending of this game drives me crazy isn't even because of what happens....it's because it very clearly suffers from a VERY different style of writing from 98% of the game.

It completely throws away the methodical, deliberate, gameplay-driven storytelling in this game and replaces it with cryptic craziness and confusion, and dialogue that goes beyond Anime and really can only be described as "Nomura".

Don't forget when she literally starts touching people and then they just know stuff.

No explanation, for any of this crap. Aerith is just the messiah in this game and it's just annoying. Aerith was always a little mysterious, but this game makes her an outright weirdo with the way she behaves, and speaks.

Something that's been annoying me after going through the plot yet again, is they don't explain WHY the whispers are showing up in the first place.

If the whispers are there to keep the timeline from changing, that means there's something changing the plot to begin with, and we are given zero hint as to what it could be. Sephiroth seems to know what that might be, but his job in this game is just to be as cryptic as possible and whisper sweet nothings into Cloud's ears.

 

[Rentahamster]

Interview: Final Fantasy VII Remake Producer and Co-Director on Development, Launch, and Being Grateful for the Fans

Returning to Midgar

www.pushsquare.com

Final Fantasy VII Remake expands on the Midgar story arc significantly. When developing the game, how did you decide on the parts that you wanted to expand?


Kitase: I personally envisioned quite a dramatic change overall, but our director; Tetsuya Nomura and co-director; Naoki Hamaguchi, wanted to keep the beloved aspects in the original as much as possible. Eventually the development team decided to focus on respecting the original while adding in new elements, ensuring a delicate balance between the two.

We love the combat system in Final Fantasy VII Remake, but it seems like it would be a difficult system to get right. How long did it take to develop? Did you run into any problems?


Hamaguchi: The concept for the battle system in Final Fantasy VII Remake became clear to us at an early stage. What we were aiming for was to evolve the ATB system in the original to express the same concept through a more modern system.


We went through a lot of trial and error, but instead of simply trying to integrate the ATB system and an action based system into one hybrid model, we thought we should bring out the best from both systems by clearly defining each one’s role. At the core of the remake’s battle system there is still the simple concept of charging up an ATB gauge and using the charge to execute abilities, exactly like in the ATB system from the original game.

As well as this, the action elements play the role of enhancing and enabling the ATB to function better, allowing the player to use skill to do things like charging the ATB gauge more efficiently, or setting up enemies so that abilities will be more devastating when a charge is used. So, the system is based around supporting using action gameplay and achieving your goal using the ATB commands.

There's a surprising amount of player choice in Final Fantasy VII Remake. Cloud's dialogue options can sometimes influence how the story plays out. Why did you want to give players these options?


Hamaguchi: Since the story in FINAL FANTASY VII up to escaping from Midgar is designed to be fairly linear, I was always worried about the possibility of jeopardising the feeling of tension and suspense inherent within the narrative by implementing gameplay which is more open-world in nature.

However, I was also aware that the story would be unpopular if it was so rigidly linear that it did not allow any player freedom at all. Therefore, we decided that every player will have the same experience in the main story, similar to watching a film, but implement choices at certain points that illustrate the depth of characters and the in-game world. This lets players choose how they want to progress in the story and it is quite captivating.


If you consider the two possible game designs, one being a design that only allows players to progress rigidly along the main story in a linear manner, and the other where a player’s choices are reflected in their story progression, it is important for players to feel that they are playing through the story at their own volition, rather than that they are being ‘forced to do so’. This is why there are side-quests, mini games, and Chadley’s reports in the game, to increase the number of chances to let players make their own choices.

 

[Rentahamster]

No explanation, for any of this crap. Aerith is just the messiah in this game and it's just annoying. Aerith was always a little mysterious, but this game makes her an outright weirdo with the way she behaves, and speaks.

Many prominent OG FF7 Youtubers think the characterization is spot on.

(timestamped for convenience)







I also agree that Aerith is depicted and voice acted beautifully, with lots of respect given to the OG FF7.

No explanation, for any of this crap.

How much explanation did you get in the first 7 hours of OG FF7?

Something that's been annoying me after going through the plot yet again, is they don't explain WHY the whispers are showing up in the first place.

Do they need to do that so early and so explicitly? They drop hints, but the game doesn't hit you over the head with it. The storytellers want to preserve some mystery for the later games, but they left lots of clues to fuel speculation.

If the whispers are there to keep the timeline from changing, that means there's something changing the plot to begin with, and we are given zero hint as to what it could be.

Yes we are. There are a lot of hints dropped that this is connected to Sephiroth/Jenova somehow.

Sephiroth seems to know what that might be, but his job in this game is just to be as cryptic as possible and whisper sweet nothings into Cloud's ears.

His job is being a curse on Cloud's past and a pain in Cloud's ass, just like in the OG FF7. It's still all there.

 

[DryPancakes]

Many prominent OG FF7 Youtubers think the characterization is spot on.

Oh good, that means we're all wrong because max said so, wrap it up folks, video games are solved, no more opinions allowed.

 

[Rentahamster]

Oh good, that means we're all wrong because max said so, wrap it up folks, video games are solved, no more opinions allowed.

That's not what I'm saying.

I'm providing supporting evidence for my own claim that they treated the original characters with respect. Mainly that:

1. I'm not the only one with this opinion
2. Other people who share this opinion have a very in-depth pedigree of all things OG FF7
3. That doesn't mean that's the only correct opinion
4. However, based on a literary reading of the OG material, my analysis leads me to believe that it does line up with the OG material
5. And that it also matches the developer intent

Ultimately art and art interpretation is subjective, so you can feel what you feel based on your own persona. However, if you look at what actually happens in the OG and even the script, it seems to me that the disconnect between OG FF7 and FF7R is mostly an issue with headcannon - which is normal, considering what I talked about a few pages back regarding the increased fidelity of the medium from PS1 to PS4.

Yinza.com - Final Fantasy VII Complete Script

www.yinza.com

 

[Rentahamster]

 

[DryPancakes]

it seems to me that the disconnect between OG FF7 and FF7R is mostly an issue with headcannon

Whose headcanon? The devs or the audience? I would argue it's because me and many others are following the original canon that we find so many of the changes baffling, just because new elements like parallel timelines are now being introduced doesn't mean our original understanding was wrong or "headcanon", we are just following the orginal established canon, whatever changes happened after are what's known as a retcon.

 

[Rentahamster]

Whose headcanon? The devs or the audience? I would argue it's because me and many others are following the original canon that we find so many of the changes baffling, just because new elements like parallel timelines are now being introduced doesn't mean our original understanding was wrong or "headcanon", we are just following the orginal established canon, whatever changes happened after are what's known as a retcon.

I'm talking about characterization here, specifically dealing with OG Aerith vs Remake Aerith.

 

[Paracelsus]

Even if the game "explains" it, it's still a retcon. Can't be done in the original, can't be done in the remake. If it was done in the remake, you have to find the exact dialogue from the original that shows it can be done and it has to be absolutely clear, no vague hinting that can be spun as headcanon.
Even allowing the basic "the lifestream allows time travel" you still have to explain how you can fight destiny as an entity, who revived Zack, where, why and how it was in an alternate dimension, and why there's alternate dimensions at all, why is Sephiroth alive (going for Advent Children in itself is a retcon), how does he have time travel resurrection powers, and if he doesn't what allows it and why.
You can't find that to be explained logically within the original, saying "it's got to do with Jenova and Sephiroth" is "a wizard did it".

They have to explain who the ghosts are, and why they didn't go straight for events before FFVII to fix easier things and prevent FFVII from happening at all.
Even something like "burn the library so Sephiroth can't read the documents" or kill one between Lucrecia and Hojo so Sephiroth can't be born of kill Shinra so no Shinra Corporation.
This stuff makes Terminator look like it makes sense.

Waiting for part 2 doesn't help, they already jumped the shark in part 1 already, "they will explain later" what cannot be explained unless "it's all a dream".

I'm talking about characterization here, specifically dealing with OG Aerith vs Remake Aerith.

If she's a self-aware goddess from the future battling a self-aware Advent Children alien devil from the future then both characters are influenced by a gargantuan retcon asspull.

EDIT: Oh, And they also have to explain how do you have multiple Aerithes across multiple dimensions and if they all know what the one from the remake knows, and if so why is Aerith the only one that can do it and why didn't Ifalna just do it to avoid getting mutilated by Hojo.

And so on, we can go for years.

 

[Rentahamster]

If she's a self-aware goddess from the future battling a self-aware Advent Children alien devil from the future then both characters are influenced by a gargantuan retcon asspull.

I'm talking about this specific criticism that I was addressing. Regarding her "weirdness" and speaking style.

Aerith is just the messiah in this game and it's just annoying. Aerith was always a little mysterious, but this game makes her an outright weirdo with the way she behaves, and speaks.

Also, if it indeed turns out that Sephiroth and Aerith are from the future in some way or another, then it's not a retcon, it's part of the continuity. These would be new personalities, not retconned ones.

 

[Rentahamster]

Even if the game "explains" it, it's still a retcon. Can't be done in the original, can't be done in the remake. If it was done in the remake, you have to find the exact dialogue from the original that shows it can be done and it has to be absolutely clear, no vague hinting that can be spun as headcanon.
Even allowing the basic "the lifestream allows time travel" you still have to explain how you can fight destiny as an entity, who revived Zack, where, why and how it was in an alternate dimension, and why there's alternate dimensions at all, why is Sephiroth alive (going for Advent Children in itself is a retcon), how does he have time travel resurrection powers, and if he doesn't what allows it and why.
You can't find that to be explained logically within the original, saying "it's got to do with Jenova and Sephiroth" is "a wizard did it".

They have to explain who the ghosts are, and why they didn't go straight for events before FFVII to fix easier things and prevent FFVII from happening at all.
Even something like "burn the library so Sephiroth can't read the documents" or kill one between Lucrecia and Hojo so Sephiroth can't be born of kill Shinra so no Shinra Corporation.
This stuff makes Terminator look like it makes sense.

Waiting for part 2 doesn't help, they already jumped the shark in part 1 already, "they will explain later" what cannot be explained unless "it's all a dream".

Why is it necessary that they explain all of their changes in the first part of a multi part series (this is what you are advocating for, right?)

What is so bad about creating some mystery and suspense, not revealing everything, and dropping hints and foreshadowing in the first act of a multi part series? (What they did and what I don't have a problem with)

I can't think of any successful TV show or novel series that dropped all the explanations for the endgame payoffs in the first episode/book without at least disguising it in some form of mystery. Can you? I think you're holding up FF7R to a standard that isn't even reflected by our own contemporary examples in media.

 

[Doom85]

Spoiler: Random musings on the ending

Also I feel sorry for people who never played the original game and are left with questions like: Who is Marlene's mom? How did Barret lose an arm? Why does Cloud have headaches? Who is this black haired SOLDIER carrying Cloud at the end, we never hear his name? What's with the cutscenes flashbacks at the end of the game? Etc. More filler for parts two and three I guess.

Spoiler

Not sure what you mean by "filler". All those questions aren't answered in the Midgar section of the original, they're explained later. The game flat out ends with a "To Be Continued" so I'm not sure why people would expect everything to already be wrapped up in a nice little bow. Nobody left Empire Strikes Back confused by the fact the movie didn't explain why Obi-Wan lied or who the "another" Yoda mentioned was since they knew there would be a sequel.

 

[Rentahamster]

Spoiler

Not sure what you mean by "filler". All those questions aren't answered in the Midgar section of the original, they're explained later. The game flat out ends with a "To Be Continued" so I'm not sure why people would expect everything to already be wrapped up in a nice little bow. Nobody left Empire Strikes Back confused by the fact the movie didn't explain why Obi-Wan lied or who the "another" Yoda mentioned was since they knew there would be a sequel.

Also especially since anyone can very easily buy FF7 on Steam for 12 dollars if they feel compelled to explore the world further.

 

[DragoonKain]

Any recommendations for tackling hard mode combat simulator?

Weapon and materia builds? What's more important: reprieve, or the ability that reduces MP usage on healing spells by 20%?

 

[Rentahamster]

Any recommendations for tackling hard mode combat simulator?

Weapon and materia builds? What's more important: reprieve, or the ability that reduces MP usage on healing spells by 20%?

DPS is the answer to everything, but that requires a deep understanding of the battle mechanics on how to kill them quickly before they can hurt you. In the meantime, here's some defense oriented tips that I wrote in the other thread.

Be grateful the debuffs even work. In most JRPGS, debuffs are useless on all bosses. You need to use debuffs on this game at the right times. For example, use STOP when the window for pressure is tight or after you stagger.

You have to think more creatively on hard mode. The secret to healing more damage is not taking it in the first pace. DPS is key to killing monsters before they kill you. Counter with Cloud as much as possible. Remember the enemy patterns.

If you need specific builds that will help :

Spoiler: Hard mode builds

Healer paladin Barret:
Weapon: Big Bertha gun with HP boosts, defense boosts, and healing effectiveness boosts.

Materia: HP up, Chakra, prayer, first attack, atb boost

Accessory : that +healing effectiveness one.

Barret will start with at least one bar ATB. Shoot for about 2 seconds or do one overcharge to fill it up, and then prayer.

Do his skill lifesaver. Some of the others damage will be transferred to Barret. He can tank this way. You can even use stoneskin and barrier to make it even more effective. Don't heal until you're in the red. When you are in the red do one Chakra to heal you almost back to full, because of healing boost on Big Bertha and your accessory.

HP absorb build :

Either Cloud, or Tifa, or Barret with melee weapon, with high magic stat.

Materia : First strike, blocking, magic up, HP absorb + enemy skill materia.


Use the ice aura + spirit siphon and stand in the middle of a bunch of enemies. With the blocking materia you can block all day long and take low damage and gain mad ATB.

Trash mob DPS:

Cloud with hardedge and all damage boosters

Materia: first strike, luck up.

Accessory : fury ring

Immediately spam triple slash at the start of every battle. You'll one shot most of em.

To enhance this, you can give cloud ATB stagger materia and put ice + magnify on another party member. Before you triple slash, use blizzard or blizzara because ice spells put enemies into pressure. If you're strong enough you'll stagger, gain more ATB, then slam whatever you want.


Also, put the bloodsucker skill on your weapons so you regain health every battle.

Here:






Equip the elemental. It's +23% damage. That adds up. The odds of you encountering something immune are low. Besides, you've already beat the game once so you should have an idea of what's coming up.

 

[DragoonKain]

I beat the simulator.

I disagree with those who said Pride and Joy was easier than Bahamut. I absolutely dominated Bahamut. Just crushed him. He was out before he counted to 3. The only thing that made that battle long was he summoned Ifrit right before I killed him and I had fire attached to elemental so all my attacks on Ifrit were weak, but he posed no threat to me.

Pride and Joy almost killed me though. I was NOT prepared for status effects, so maybe that is why. He kept stunning me. Also maybe I had the wrong strategy in attacking body parts instead of just going for the body. But at the end he started spamming crap and he killed everyone but Cloud, and I didn't have revive on Cloud so I thought I was gonna die, but luckily he had a slither of life left and I KO'd him right after. But I had Planet's Protection on right before he started spamming attacks, maybe it didn't take for some reason I should've been temporarily immune. Whatever, I won. Now to go back through it and assess all the enemies to complete the Enemy Intel and I'm done.

 

[Rentahamster]

Also maybe I had the wrong strategy in attacking body parts instead of just going for the body.

No, that's actually the right strategy. Thundaga his legs constantly and he keeps falling down and can't do shit.

 

[DragoonKain]

Weird I just did it again and crushed him but struggled more with Bahamut. Must have been the luck of the draw.

Anyway I'm done with the game. Did everything I wanted to do.

 

[Rentahamster]

Weird I just did it again and crushed him but struggled more with Bahamut. Must have been the luck of the draw.

Anyway I'm done with the game. Did everything I wanted to do.

If you haven't beaten the Pride and Joy challenge in under 2 minutes, you haven't done everything yet.

 

[DragoonKain]

If you haven't beaten the Pride and Joy challenge in under 2 minutes, you haven't done everything yet.

I don't know how long the latest one took, I'd guess about 3:30. Good enough for me

 

[Rentahamster]

Here's a good video about the battle mechanics of all the different magic elemental spells. I like the depth this game's combat offers because it's not just about elemental weaknesses. Each element is slightly different from the others in their physical properties too.

 

[Bryank75]

Not a spoiler but.....

 

[cj_iwakura]

I made one little tweak to the ending:




I did enjoy the game, especailly the subtle changes, but for every great one(fleshing out Jessie), there's some ??? ones(Barret randomly 'dying', the new execution of Pres. Shinra's death which isn't nearly as frightful), etc.

I also feel like some of the dungeons drag for no real reason, which weighs the game down, namely the sewers, Hojo's lab, and especially that damn upper level mission to put out the lights. Too much for an acrophobic, lol.

 

[Rentahamster]

I made one little tweak to the ending:

I love that song

 

[Doom85]

I also feel like some of the dungeons drag for no real reason, which weighs the game down, namely the sewers, Hojo's lab, and especially that damn upper level mission to put out the lights. Too much for an acrophobic, lol.

I enjoyed all those levels, the only area that felt very filler to me was the ghost trainyard, randomly bringing ghosts as a main element despite them not being really connected to the rest of the plot felt random. If they wanted more time to let Tifa and Aerith get to know each other, they should have expanded the sewer level a bit more and just had the train graveyard be more like the original, just a few simple puzzles and some enemies to fight. But all the other areas felt more relevant to the story and/or characters.

 

[Nankatsu]

Do you really need to do the pride and joy boss battle to get the refocus special item so you can beat the game on hard or what?

Arbingers of fate on hard is driving me nuts. I can go until Bahamut fight, but since you switch parties at that point I'm pretty fucked because Barret is my healer.

And bahamut appears I'm without one. Even if I put prayer on Aerith, which I already have, she is one shot all the times when Bahamut casts megaflare... Even the revive earrings are not helping here.

I've been cruising on hard mode so far, but this sequence is hard.

 

[Rentahamster]

Do you really need to do the pride and joy boss battle to get the refocus special item so you can beat the game on hard or what?

No.

I can go until Bahamut fight, but since you switch parties at that point I'm pretty fucked because Barret is my healer.

Fuck healing. DPS baby!

Stunlock bahamut with repeated Firaga or Thundaga

 

[Nankatsu]

No.


Fuck healing. DPS baby!

Stunlock bahamut with repeated Firaga or Thundaga

Well, shit. I just started chapter 9

 

[Rentahamster]

I can relate

 

[Nankatsu]

Finally beat the game on hard, missing just one manuscript.

Amazing journey. I really think this is the way the game should be played. No items, just pure MP, materia and party management.

Now I just need to wrap those dresses and that Platinum trophy is mine.

 

[dalyr95]

Clocked the game on hard. but cannot beat Bahamut in pride and joy for love nor money.

Lvl 50 and maxed out MP & HP Up materia so at max HP/MP. Tried Cloud, Barrett & Tifa or Arieth

I can get Bahamut down to around 20% health and when the 2 second countdown for Megaflare but I'll be low on ATB Charges to deal damage while he countsdown.

Tried revival earings, but Fat Chocobo always takes ones character, not sure if it's the Tonberry's or the Bombs in throws at the end.

Frustrating as that's all I got left to get the platinum.

EDIT Going to try "Stunlock bahamut with repeated Firaga or Thundaga" suggestion by Rentahamster. Do I need much MP for Pride & Joy though?

 

[Rentahamster]

Clocked the game on hard. but cannot beat Bahamut in pride and joy for love nor money.

Lvl 50 and maxed out MP & HP Up materia so at max HP/MP. Tried Cloud, Barrett & Tifa or Arieth

I can get Bahamut down to around 20% health and when the 2 second countdown for Megaflare but I'll be low on ATB Charges to deal damage while he countsdown.

Tried revival earings, but Fat Chocobo always takes ones character, not sure if it's the Tonberry's or the Bombs in throws at the end.

Frustrating as that's all I got left to get the platinum.

EDIT Going to try "Stunlock bahamut with repeated Firaga or Thundaga" suggestion by Rentahamster. Do I need much MP for Pride & Joy though?

Nah, pride and joy is pretty easy. Get the most out of your MP by increasing DPS. Practice Stunlocking Bahamut in the VR simulator first.

 

[Rentahamster]

That would be cool

 

[Nankatsu]

Finally done it.

123h clocked but Platinum, all manuscripts and Chapter 14 resolutions are done.

 

[Mazojin]

So, a little late, but I just beat this, so I can finally post and read about it without worrying about spoilers.

I enjoyed the overall experience. The combat system was versatile and a lot of fun. And I don't mind the story changes as much as some, but I will admit it comes off as very Kingdom Hearts-like. But I'm curious to see where they're taking this.

Additionally, I'm planning to play the original now (I never actually did before, even though I know the story). Eventually I'm gonna also come back and try this one on hard mode and choose the other story options I didn't before. Hope the next installment doesn't take too long.