Regarding the "action RPG" debate, Nomura mentioned in this week's Famitsu interview that the game system will be different, but he can't give specifics right now. But he does drop a hint by saying that it will be an "immersive gameplay system". Take that as you will.
People getting enraged about this Nomura's comment ought to take breathe. ffX-2's system is far more "action based ", "realistic" and "inmersive" than ffVII's combat system yet it is still turn based. Evolution doesn't mean disruption, people.
As for me, they only need to keep 2 elements in ffVII's combat system intact:
- Materia having a major role. Come on, you can't leave this out
- Every member of the team being playable (ffVII was, afterall, far more than Cloud's story, it was quite choral)
- Keep having a deep strategical component to it
As long as these elements are intact, they can do whatever they want
duckroll said:
All his comments in every interview so far, including the narration for the FFVIIr trailer itself, seem to indicate that he's pushing a "nostalgia get fucked, this isn't your grandmother's FFVII!" message.
And I absolutely agree with him here. Thing is, people loved ffVII in no small part due to its ability to surprise and put us in states of awe and mindfuckery (see the ffVII replay tread to see what I mean). They need to offer at least some measure of surprise, even to longtime fans like us. There's a lot of a grey space between an HD version of ffVII and a retarded George Lucas retcon. His comments about "no new characters" (aka, "no compilation bullshit") gives me a lot of faith in that regard. I do want to see alternative endings and more elements of dating simulators added, for starters
You know what, the mini games are cute and I hope they keep them around, I can skip the ones I don't like (such as Chocobo Racing)... but one thing I really hope they remove is that awful Golden Chocobo breeding. Spending hours on this terrible side-quest to get KOTR is NOT my idea of fun. I really hope it's removed and a better, more fun way to obtain KOTR is included. I dread the idea of ever doing that nonsense again.
Partially agree. Keep the chocobo breeding, but give it a huge revamp in order to make it less grindy and tedious, I say.
Also, they need to make some of the missable, major story stuff mandatory for progress. So many people missed out on huge, important chunks of the story such as the Zack flashbacks, Lucrecia's cave, Yuffie, & Vincent in the original FF7. It would improve the experience for a lot of new players if this stuff was required to progress through the game or they'd miss some really important parts of the experience.
Agree? Disagree?
Big huge NOPE here. One of the things that I loved about fVII is how major parts of the story were optional. You had to research and investigate in your own if you want to dwelve deeper into the secrets of the game, and I loved it for it. You can understand the story without Yuffie and Vincent, but it is great that the more effort you put into the game, you are not only rewarded with better weapons, but also with a better story and better characters. Few RPGs do that thing nowadays.