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Final Fantasy VII Rebirth: Special TGS Presentation - Open World Exploration, Towns, Mini Games & Hunts
- Thread starter Go_Ly_Dow
- Start date
Thick Thighs Save Lives
Gold Member
Now if only we could time travel to Feb 29th...
No, I'm done watching anything from this game, I'm already sold and just waiting for the game to get released.
Shadowstar39
Member
Lethal01
Member
I wanted to point this out too. It seems like most people find the game's visual amazing, but I find it quite weird as far as I'm concerned.
The characters do look fantastic, to the point where they almost look like CGI in some scenes. The environments however, and especially everything that's "natural", look very strange.
Everything is a bit too shiny, and the lighting is either bad or weird. It really stand out the most on natural environments, which is probably why this looks more weird than VII Remake to me.
I think it's a mix of both the materials being set up in a strange way, and the lighting giving me a very obvious "Unreal Engine" vibe, which all combines give it a bit of that UE Generic vibe, it lacks identity and everything looks a bit too... Fake? It's a very personnal feeling and I'm not sure how to explain it better.
That screenshot you posted isn't the most flatering, I hope this will be improved, but even the more close up scenes have a weird aspect.
For example, if we compare (compression aside, sorry for the bad quality youtube capture) :
To FF XV :
I think that FF XV looks a lot better, at least it does a lot in my eyes. The geometry might be better in VII, but the lighting, the environment, everything looks and feel more natural in XV, while VII looks a bit more like... plastic?
My big issue with the games visuals is the extreme lack of shadows
The assets are also low quality, but theat extremely minor compared to the huge lighting issues.
Larxia
Member
Would FF16-style color grading fix it/give it more pop?
I never thought XVI was that much of a looker, I still prefer XV, but that's probably more of an art style preference. XVI does look better than VII though, it doesn't have this... well generic typical UE vibe. The materials look better too. Especially the foliage.16 still looks way better than 15 and 7Re ( at least by that screens )
It seems to be a draw distance issue, the shadows for these environments most likely do exist, but they only appear from very close.My big issue with the games visuals is the extreme lack of shadows
The assets are also low quality, but theat extremely minor compared to the huge lighting issues.
If you take a look here for example when they arrive at Kalm, you can see part of the shadow loading only a few meters in front of the player:
If they needed to do this to get decent performance, then it would have been go to have baked shadows replacing the real time ones from when you get at a certain distance.
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I wanted to point this out too. It seems like most people find the game's visual amazing, but I find it quite weird as far as I'm concerned.
The characters do look fantastic, to the point where they almost look like CGI in some scenes. The environments however, and especially everything that's "natural", look very strange.
Everything is a bit too shiny, and the lighting is either bad or weird. It really stand out the most on natural environments, which is probably why this looks more weird than VII Remake to me.
I think it's a mix of both the materials being set up in a strange way, and the lighting giving me a very obvious "Unreal Engine" vibe, which all combines give it a bit of that UE Generic vibe, it lacks identity and everything looks a bit too... Fake? It's a very personnal feeling and I'm not sure how to explain it better.
That screenshot you posted isn't the most flatering, I hope this will be improved, but even the more close up scenes have a weird aspect.
For example, if we compare (compression aside, sorry for the bad quality youtube capture) :
To FF XV :
I think that FF XV looks a lot better, at least it does a lot in my eyes. The geometry might be better in VII, but the lighting, the environment, everything looks and feel more natural in XV, while VII looks a bit more like... plastic?
Even the traversal animations are hilariously jank and robotic in Rebirth. The time scheduling conflicted between CyberConnect choosing UE4 when VIIRemake started development in 2014 while XV / Luminous was still in development, but SE really should think about streamlining their pipelines like Capcom and just iterate on Luminous. They're basically just building similar games now but with different takes on battle systems, and XV from half a decade ago technically and visually still comes out on top.
16 still looks way better than 15 and 7Re ( at least by that screens )
15 with real-time dynamic lighting and weather looks a lot better and has considerably better animations. It's just a matter of waiting for the right time of day, while 16 and Rebirth are static pre-bakes.
Larxia
Member
Even the traversal animations are hilariously jank and robotic in Rebirth. The time scheduling conflicted between CyberConnect choosing UE4 when VIIRemake started development in 2014 while XV / Luminous was still in development, but SE really should think about streamlining their pipelines like Capcom and just iterate on Luminous. They're basically just building similar games now but with different takes on battle systems, and XV from half a decade ago technically and visually still comes out on top.
15 with real-time dynamic lighting and weather looks a lot better and has considerably better animations. It's just a matter of waiting for the right time of day, while 16 and Rebirth are static pre-bakes.
I agree with all of that, I too think that XV looks a lot better than all of their more recent games, but I didn't insist too much on saying the graphics are better because I usually get laughed at when I say this
XV still looks fantastic to this day, and the animations were indeed incredible. Just walking / running around felt special in that game because of the amount of animations and how realistic they felt.KH 3 however used UE4 and I think it looked really great, it's not as impressive as XV because it's static etc, but it looked better than VII in my opinion (although very different styles I know, but it had more of a visual identity, it looked less rough too).
Here's a little video I did to showcase the beautiful world of XV a while ago
ResurrectedContrarian
Suffers with mild autism
FF10 should the ignored black sheep, in a sane world. It encapsulated everything that made the series drop off a cliff and never return.Sorry, you’re going to get FF 9 and FF 10 remade instead
According to multiple rumors it’s one of the above two, or both, and 8 is being skipped, once again being left as one of the black sheep FF games.
Lokaum D+
Member
and yet is considered the last really good FF game, one day FF "fans" ll understand that FF was never about "open word" it is about the journey, characters and the plot.
as someone that play FF since 4 imo open world is just a way to delivers this 3 main aspects of the series.
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Davesky
Member
Yet it has the best art direction and one of the most mythologically rich stories in the entire franchise, or any other RPG for that matter. It may have been limited at the time in terms of exploration and open world due to the improvements of hardware, but for its time, it was a solid entry.
March Climber
Member
I know it's fun to blame what happened after 10 solely on 10, but it helps to do look into the reasons why FF headed in the direction it did after 10 and to know that there are more factors to FF having a slump after 10.
Edit: and since
Davesky
and
Lokaum D+
are bringing it up, I agree with their points. FFX is one of my favorite FF games of all time. Artistically it is way up there for me too(and might be number one), as many FF games felt like a version of Earth, but Spira literally felt like a completely different planet with it's own set of gravitation rules, rules of nature, wildlife, biomes, and inhabitants. I will stand by my earlier opinions on this forum that there is nothing quite like FFX and it will take ages for any FF team to ever match what that game did artistically, regardless of linearity.
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rickybooby87
Member
Even the traversal animations are hilariously jank and robotic in Rebirth. The time scheduling conflicted between CyberConnect choosing UE4 when VIIRemake started development in 2014 while XV / Luminous was still in development, but SE really should think about streamlining their pipelines like Capcom and just iterate on Luminous. They're basically just building similar games now but with different takes on battle systems, and XV from half a decade ago technically and visually still comes out on top.
15 with real-time dynamic lighting and weather looks a lot better and has considerably better animations. It's just a matter of waiting for the right time of day, while 16 and Rebirth are static pre-bakes.
The lighting could be better, but 15, to me, has a lot of open space with not a lot of assets to occupy it, just big 'scapes devoid of any unique assets/geometry for the purpose of serving as a back drop to giga-sized bosses (In a sense). Maxdood said it best, a few big cities, and like 15 gas stations in between each one. Most of the scenes that we've seen thus far in FFVII:RE looks to be packing a good amount of geometry, a lot of 15 looks sterile in comparison. The focus is on character quality/rendering for maximizing the story telling aspect, whilst finding a balance for the rest of the environment.
thatsafakewebsitebro
Member
EDMIX
Member
I wanted to point this out too. It seems like most people find the game's visual amazing, but I find it quite weird as far as I'm concerned.
The characters do look fantastic, to the point where they almost look like CGI in some scenes. The environments however, and especially everything that's "natural", look very strange.
Everything is a bit too shiny, and the lighting is either bad or weird. It really stand out the most on natural environments, which is probably why this looks more weird than VII Remake to me.
I think it's a mix of both the materials being set up in a strange way, and the lighting giving me a very obvious "Unreal Engine" vibe, which all combines give it a bit of that UE Generic vibe, it lacks identity and everything looks a bit too... Fake? It's a very personnal feeling and I'm not sure how to explain it better.
That screenshot you posted isn't the most flatering, I hope this will be improved, but even the more close up scenes have a weird aspect.
For example, if we compare (compression aside, sorry for the bad quality youtube capture) :
To FF XV :
I think that FF XV looks a lot better, at least it does a lot in my eyes. The geometry might be better in VII, but the lighting, the environment, everything looks and feel more natural in XV, while VII looks a bit more like... plastic?
Maybe, I think it might be splitting hairs a bit.
I think they both look fine. You must also consider they are still polishing the game for release and we are simply seeing Youtube compression type videos.
I thought the same thing about Baldur's Gate 3 when it was in early access and playing the game now for almost 40 hours, final and up close, it looks amazing. Same with Starfield, I feel some time a screenshot may not do something justice and playing it in real time you are able to see better quality in something.
Paulistano
Member
This game in Japanese is so much better, just like any Final Fantasy, it's unplayable otherwise.
Brock2621
Member
So I recently replayed this and I gotta agree, it was way WAY better than my 11 year old self remembered lol. I Actually loved it and thought the ending was mind blowing
Andrew Evenstar
Member
the world environments look so damn good and being able to swim / climb is awesome. the battle system looks much improved as well. damn i can't wait for this.
Lethal01
Member
For some reason i can't see the video you posted, but I'm certain there are many object that just aren't casting shadows no matter how close they get.
I can agree the XVI and XV may be doing thing better graphically, but I also find their world just extremely boring to look at, the world of rebirth is just infinitely superior to me.
plus the footage we are seeing is from about 7 months before release so hopefully they atleast spruce up the lighting a lot.
ResurrectedContrarian
Suffers with mild autism
Strong disagree—I played since the NES as well, and X is why I dropped out and lost all interest. I’ve never played more than a couple hours of any of the sequels since (except FFVII remake).I know it's fun to blame what happened after 10 solely on 10, but it helps to do look into the reasons why FF headed in the direction it did after 10 and to know that there are more factors to FF having a slump after 10.
Edit: and since
I will stand by my earlier opinions on this forum that there is nothing quite like FFX and it will take ages for any FF team to ever match what that game did artistically, regardless of linearity.
I hated the characters too—tied with FFIX for most unlikable main protagonist. Gameplay and characters betrayed the franchise. Probably VI was the peak, almost bested by VII. In any case, X and after is another franchise entirely.
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Larxia
Member
Right, the video got set to private apparently, I just edited the link in the post.
About XV's world, I guess it's a matter of taste, I personally love that world, although I'll forever be sad about all the wasted potential and especially how we were robbed of Insomnia, the most attractive place in XV.
(screenshot taken on PC with a mod for Insomnia)
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Fredrik
Member
It’s like looking through a polarised lense, looks like they’re flying
March Climber
Member
And that's fine. You've had your fun with the franchise while you did and at this point it is entirely your fault if you continue to spend money on hope. The same way you have gripes about X, is the same way X fans would probably have similar gripes about XV(and it's disjointed storytelling and barren open world compared to X).
As a franchise that has constantly been shifting since FF3(from big sweeping changes, to style changes like mecha and steampunk, to combat changes like ATB, job systems, real time), I am completely okay with this. As I've stated above you can definitely find X fans who do not like XV, and that doesn't make them any more right or wrong than you or me or new generation XV fans
. However, if someone such as yourself wants a beloved RPG game series from Japan that has kept things completely traditional all the way through(so far), I would recommend to them to try something like Dragon Quest or turn based SMT.Final Fantasy has never been anything but a table-flipper of an I.P. since FF3, and there are very, very few franchises in gaming that will have tons of different split fanbases based upon generation, gameplay style, and impact(Zelda is one other one I can think of). The most ignored FF fanbase are arguably the MMO crowd, but they will still tell you that they are Final Fantasy fans.
My defense of X is mainly in regards to it's world setting, world building, and lore, as I truly feels it stands completely on it's own. I can defend Tidus(as I have here before) but it isn't worth getting into to explain why he's so different compared to other protagonists. When it comes to their world of FFX however, I can't count the amount of times I was wow'ed when running through the multiple locales of Spira throughout the entire game, and I can only imagine how that would look as a fully remade title. This is just my perspective though, not objective fact, and this is coming from someone who started playing at FF 5.
James Sawyer Ford
Gold Member
This is shaping up so incredibly well.
Sony could have quite a strong 2024 with this and possibly Death Stranding 2 in the same year
I loved FF16 but I hope this game doesn’t have the cons that one did in terms of side content. Hunts are great though. Having a big fully integrated open world is nice too
Sony could have quite a strong 2024 with this and possibly Death Stranding 2 in the same year
I loved FF16 but I hope this game doesn’t have the cons that one did in terms of side content. Hunts are great though. Having a big fully integrated open world is nice too
Elysion
Banned
I agree that FFX is superior to any other FF in the way it’s setting, world and character design, art style, progression system, story, lore, soundtrack and aesthetics all support and compliment each other. It’s by far the most coherent and cohesive FF game out there, where nothing within the game feels out of place.
But it was also the first FF that abandoned the traversable world map of the previous games, and replaced it with a menu screen. And it was apparent that Square was already struggling with having cities in a FF game even back then, since FF10 had noticeably less towns and cities to visit than any of its predecessors (at least IV-IX; I’ve never played I-III). This becomes especially apparent when it comes to Bevelle; it is the capital of Spira, and the seat of the church of Yevon, yet we never get the opportunity to actually explore the city. That was the first time I can remember in a FF game where we were locked out of a location that was part of the story. That, combined with the game’s extreme linearity, gave me a bit of a sour note when I first played it back in the day, even though I loved everything else about the game.
FF7 rebirth looks like it might be first FF since FF9 to deliver the whole package: traversable world map, lots of towns and cities, customizable party, mini games, vehicles, maybe even an airship?
But it was also the first FF that abandoned the traversable world map of the previous games, and replaced it with a menu screen. And it was apparent that Square was already struggling with having cities in a FF game even back then, since FF10 had noticeably less towns and cities to visit than any of its predecessors (at least IV-IX; I’ve never played I-III). This becomes especially apparent when it comes to Bevelle; it is the capital of Spira, and the seat of the church of Yevon, yet we never get the opportunity to actually explore the city. That was the first time I can remember in a FF game where we were locked out of a location that was part of the story. That, combined with the game’s extreme linearity, gave me a bit of a sour note when I first played it back in the day, even though I loved everything else about the game.
FF7 rebirth looks like it might be first FF since FF9 to deliver the whole package: traversable world map, lots of towns and cities, customizable party, mini games, vehicles, maybe even an airship?
stickkidsam
Member
Everything is sounding beyond amazing here, especially the fully crafted world and the ability to tackle side content when ya want to. So many cool mini games I’m looking forward to!
I just hope they can fix up the animations and lighting. It doesn’t need to be on the level of XV but damn the traversal looks jank lol
I just hope they can fix up the animations and lighting. It doesn’t need to be on the level of XV but damn the traversal looks jank lol
Go_Ly_Dow
Member
TGS build they said is a couple of months old and still just under half a year until release, so they have time to polish up.
That said, despite XV having top notch production values on the animation side of things, my god everything else felt subpar. The locales, the cutscenes, the variety and even the combat was a mess. So I'd rather VIIR emphasise these things over better jumping animations any day of the week.
That said, despite XV having top notch production values on the animation side of things, my god everything else felt subpar. The locales, the cutscenes, the variety and even the combat was a mess. So I'd rather VIIR emphasise these things over better jumping animations any day of the week.
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Lethal01
Member
I'm sure it will look better, but not even the best games grahicall manage to have good foliage and lighting without some sacrifice like a bunch of fog.
But I'm a snob and would be satisifed until every game has Cyberpunks path traced lighting.
On the gameplay
All the minigames in this is great. But I wish the systems were more naturally incorporated into gameplay. I want to be able to use the sneak system in the chocobo minigame at any time, as well as push objects around like when we vacuum the make. etc etc. Lemme use combat abilities at any time too, hit a Shinra tower with lighting to turn it on. Give me a cohesive system that can handle minigames, not 20 disconnected systems for specific moments
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Lethal01
Member
So they are assuming the brown part isn't explorable? I see no reason too, Mountain chocobo let you climb mountains.Fans trying to get an idea of explorable areas on the first continent on the Rebirth map.
Go_Ly_Dow
Member
Lethal01
Member
Go_Ly_Dow
Member
I've just started watching it myself. Just thought it would give us a better idea given he's played the game.
March Climber
Member
He thought that what the giant map they showed was only the bottom left corner, of the continent on the right, of the original map. That would have made the game extremely gigantic. However after multiple hours and another day of examining evidence(this video was pretty funny as it went along and he went down a rabbit hole of measurements), it seems like the area they showed is not only a large sizable chunk of the continent, it might be up to 60-70 percent of it, which in his view would be better because he said one of FF XV's problems was that you ended up walking and driving a lot due to the map being too big. It helped for that game's moments of realism but sucked from a gameplay standpoint.
He is still skeptical though because a Blu-Ray disc can fit a ton of content and this game will ship on 2, so either this game fully contains both continents and their full states/areas, or each continent is a decent size but packed to the brim with content and assets, or he is simply wrong.
tl;dr It will be big...bigger than a game like Horizon Forbidden West, but not sure if it will be even bigger than FFXV or something like AC: Valhalla.
Side note: The absolute biggest, non procedurally generated map I've ever seen in a video game is Elder Scrolls Online. I think before that game dies, they will eventually map out the entire planet of Tamriel. I'm not joking, as they are getting closer and closer with each expansion.
saintjules
Member
Some additional screens we may not have seen from the demo:
rofif
Banned
Looks incredible aside from water not reacting to swimming at all.
I never played original back in the day. Only played up to finishing midgar this year and I like the remake more. I will not be continuing with original until I finish rebirth... Kinda feels like I would be spoiling rebirth with dated game.
And I've not played intermission yet. Need to get on that
But which edition do I get ?! Steelbook 1 with default edition or deluxe ?! why can't I get both !
I never played original back in the day. Only played up to finishing midgar this year and I like the remake more. I will not be continuing with original until I finish rebirth... Kinda feels like I would be spoiling rebirth with dated game.
And I've not played intermission yet. Need to get on that
But which edition do I get ?! Steelbook 1 with default edition or deluxe ?! why can't I get both !
rofif
Banned
XV is so fkn incredible. Just man. That game really drives my imagination. I think it's a good game.Right, the video got set to private apparently, I just edited the link in the post.
About XV's world, I guess it's a matter of taste, I personally love that world, although I'll forever be sad about all the wasted potential and especially how we were robbed of Insomnia, the most attractive place in XV.
(screenshot taken on PC with a mod for Insomnia)
Rocco Schiavone
Member
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Different Editions and Pre-Order Bonuses Detailed
We've got the rundown on the different Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth different editions and pre-order bonuses that players can buy ahead of launch.
mp1st.com
Even the traversal animations are hilariously jank and robotic in Rebirth. The time scheduling conflicted between CyberConnect choosing UE4 when VIIRemake started development in 2014 while XV / Luminous was still in development, but SE really should think about streamlining their pipelines like Capcom and just iterate on Luminous. They're basically just building similar games now but with different takes on battle systems, and XV from half a decade ago technically and visually still comes out on top.
15 with real-time dynamic lighting and weather looks a lot better and has considerably better animations. It's just a matter of waiting for the right time of day, while 16 and Rebirth are static pre-bakes.
I have to say, I'm incredibly excited for this game. Seems it's gonna have a lot of what was missing in Remake: open-ish world exploration, much more significant narrative development (more backstories! more character motivations! twists! turns! heartbreak!), exciting and ingeniously designed combat (the opportunities for juggling enemies in the air have me particularly stoked), and a TON of content with seemingly less filler (fewer "find my cat" missions?).
That said, something that has confounded me from the very start of all this is how janky the traversal animations look. I've always had an issue with FFVIIR's basic traversal animation – Cloud's basic running/walking animation makes him look like a plastic commando action figure whose torso does not seem fully in sync with his feet. He looks like he's almost *teleporting* off hills when "hops" down them – or up. Even when he climbs stair cases, he sort of jerks up and down.
I can't imagine we're the only ones who notice this. While I didn't love FFXV – the story was a mess and the world and characters left a lot to be desired – the animations in that 8-year-old game are still stunning to this day. Noctis actually looks like a real human being when he walks and runs. Cloud looks like an inanimate action figure.
For the record, I think FFVII Rebirth is shaping up to be an excellent game. Just a bit of a bummer that the traversal animations look somewhat sloppy, given how much love they're putting into this thing.
Go_Ly_Dow
Member
I think we'll have to wait and see for the final release. We know this TGS build is a couple months old and that they'll be improving the game as much as they can until they have to call an end to dev, still about 4 months to go.
I agree that the XV animations are better. They are exceptionally good. I have to imagine UE4 which they've customised is capable of more fluid animations so it is probably also a strange stylsitic choice of sorts as well. I say this because XV's battle system had a free flowing jump mechanic, whilst VIIR doesn't and its automated to a degree in battles. So there's less reason to put to much of an emphasis on those animations and realistic physics.
Also regarding Luminous, for whatever reason the engine was just poor for Forspoken and I think moving to Unreal was the correct decision given how internal game engines were a large part why XIII, XIV 1.0 and Versus were all development nightmares. Play it safe and build good games using a pre-existing engine, rather than spend years trying to build a good engine.
I agree that the XV animations are better. They are exceptionally good. I have to imagine UE4 which they've customised is capable of more fluid animations so it is probably also a strange stylsitic choice of sorts as well. I say this because XV's battle system had a free flowing jump mechanic, whilst VIIR doesn't and its automated to a degree in battles. So there's less reason to put to much of an emphasis on those animations and realistic physics.
Also regarding Luminous, for whatever reason the engine was just poor for Forspoken and I think moving to Unreal was the correct decision given how internal game engines were a large part why XIII, XIV 1.0 and Versus were all development nightmares. Play it safe and build good games using a pre-existing engine, rather than spend years trying to build a good engine.
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