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[KiteGr]

I've just finished the game the other day, and I had to say, the ending is very bizzare and unexpected. Well... I DID expected them to climax with some important boss, and I was thinking that Sephiroth will make some early appearance, coming just short of putting a top hat and doing a little song and dance routine for the fans...

Ok... First, the good:
The game looks amazing and clearly had a lot of effort put into it. The music kicks ass, and for all the extra filler they've added, I'm glad they focused some on the rest of the team Avalanche and the Upper city that we saw very little off. Nearly every enemy came back, no matter how bizarre it looked. They even kept the House enemy! I loved what they do with the combat, where they kept both the action and the turned based aspects simultaneously.

Now, the mixed:
While playing, I thought the "whispers" where another one of those filler content, most likely intended to foreshadow some new final boss to a game that originally wasn't supposed to have any at that point, and while I stand corrected, I wasn't expecting it to just say "Screw the original game! We do our own things now!". This is no longer a remake, and it's rather a re-imagining. Now there are goods and bad aspects to it. On one side, the next game will be new, and you won't know what to expect. I wouldn't be surprised if Sephiroth kills Tifa this time! On the other side, this isn't what we asked for. The original game had some amazing themes and plotlines.

• Since the game is treating the old plot as Meta, how much of that will it respect now that it has a new multidimensional plot?
• Will heaving "Ancient" Aerith instead of Tifa alive in the late game derail the plot?
• Will they keep the theme of Cloud living a "copied life" as prominent (given that they almost revealed it in the first part)?
• Will they derail it with completely new events?
• Will they have appropriate final bosses now that they blew their load with Sephiroth in the first part (remember that in the original by that point you haven't even seen him, and in the flashback later you were introduced to him doing 4 digit number attack damage where at that point you could barely do 3)?
• Do you trust the guy that made Kingdom Hearts to write an appropriate multidimensional replacement plot?

Now the bad:
They seem to have turned every single large sized enemy into a storied boss, and that leads us to a crap ton of filler! Seriously! Every scene in the original game has been tripled in length, and for every story event taken from the original, there is a new event added in! I understand that the Midgar part was a perfectly isolated part of the original to start and end a game, but they really stretched it thin.
Yet, for all the Extras they've added, they seemed to have missed the alternative outcome of the Don-Corneo scene, as now he choses Cloud regardless of your choices. The few events that can play differently seem to now revolve exclusively around which of the girls you like the best.
As for the final bosses, for all the efforts to foreshadow them they seem to come out abruptly, Aerith suddenly starts acting out of character, and suddenly everything becomes all about "defeating Fate", as if the old one was bad.
The game also seems to be as expected, more toothless, as all blood has been removed, and seemingly fatal wounds in characters leave only bruises.
Speaking of "toothless", the basic attacks seem to lack weight with most enemies in the late game having hyper armor. You mean to tell me that a generic soldier is being hit with a minigun and Gut's fucking Dragonslayer and doesn't even flinch (instead of being torn to pieces) because it not a special attack?

What do you people think of the new direction?
Do you trust them to do it well?

 

[UnravelKatharsis]

I'm actually right at the last boss now. Lost a few times and took a break but I could see where it was going. The whispers are like the hand of fate guiding the heroes making sure the broad strokes don't change. And I figured at the end they will defeat fate and be able to make their own path forward.

I don't know what to think in regards to wether they can pull it off. I'm leaning towards no. It will be a fun ride. Kind of like a marvel movie but ultimately without any compelling substance.

There was a scene towards the beginning and now it's been so long I'm drawing a blank as to what exactly happened, but it was between cloud and tifa. Cloud mentioned something about their past that Tifa didn't remember. Then she realized she did remember. And that doesn't support the clone storyline. I was like wait...did square just forget he's not supposed to remember anything he doesn't hear Tifa say first???

So...like I said not much faith.

 

[Dacon]

I absolutely hated most of the new plot elements and the big reveal that this is all some kind of time travel bullshit, with Aerith knowing the future and all this stupid bullshit.

It was reminiscent of Nomura's usual nonsensical plot elements in Kingdom Hearts.

I wanted a remake, not some bizarre reboot that threatens to change the events of the original game.

SE has claimed in the Ultimania that they don't plan to drastically change the events of the original game, but they already have with Aerith knowing shit she shouldn't, and the whole reveal with Zack.

It was a huge blemish on a game that I mostly enjoyed.

I wouldn't be surprised if Sephiroth kills Tifa this time!

• Will heaving "Ancient" Aerith instead of Tifa alive in the late game derail the plot?

It really annoys me that people think Aerith and Tifa are such interchangeable characters that if one doesn't die the other HAS to.

 

[GymWolf]

I hated this piece of crap, an insult to the original game.

The new plot is fanfiction retard level.

 

[klosos]

Sorry I didn't like it , my biggest let down in gaming for a decade. it looks bloody fantastic but that's all it had going for it.

I might be in the minority here I think modern FF combat is atrocious and FF12 as had the best bland between new and old. No I have no interest in part 2

 

[ZZZZ]

What do you people think of the new direction?
Do you trust them to do it well?

It's mostly positive, especially new players, most of the hate comes from OG players that wanted a faithful Remake.
In my case i loved the game, i'm skeptical of where they are going with the story, but i'm giving them a chance because i loved the combat, animations, cutscenes and the boss battles so much.

Edit: Lack of blood is due to SE not allowing the game to go M rating, they had to censor a ton of stuff and most of the fan base hated that. I expect blood moving forward in part 2, just look at FFXVI trailer.

There was a scene towards the beginning and now it's been so long I'm drawing a blank as to what exactly happened, but it was between cloud and tifa. Cloud mentioned something about their past that Tifa didn't remember. Then she realized she did remember. And that doesn't support the clone storyline. I was like wait...did square just forget he's not supposed to remember anything he doesn't hear Tifa say first???

So...like I said not much faith.

What??? Could you please clarify?

 

[ULTROS!]

This game tried to market both: the newcomers and the old fans alike. I think it did the job though because I'm looking forward to what happens next because the future is tossed in the air. I won't be as interested if they 100% kept the same storyline.

I don't think it sold on the jaded fans who are resistant to change (aka ATB forever) though.

 

[Kev Kev]

this game had a lot going for it, but little annoyances really knocked it down from a 10/10, to an 8. and the story change bumps it to a 7.

in all, it was pretty good, but disappointing that they took that long to make it and released something that had so many problems. i'm still a bit in shock that they sorta fucked it up.

i had almost no faith in square before, and now i can officially say i have absolutely zero faith that they will ever get back to the dev they used to be. i hope they surprise me, but vii remake was their last chance, and they blew it.

 

[UnravelKatharsis]

What??? Could you please clarify?

I'll try. It's been years since playing the original but as I recall Cloud compiled his memories and personality from a combination of zacks and tifas.

Cloud would talk about the past (ie: being at nibelheim) and tifas recollection of the events wasn't the same as clouds, because cloud was wrong or had made up his memory. Tifa noticed the discrepancy but ignored it because she was sure this was the cloud from her childhood.

But if Tifa talked about something cloud didn't know, didn't remember, or that clashed with his recollection you would see him struggle internally. He would hold his head and you'd see the shadow version of cloud. Then all of a sudden it would stop and he would act is if nothing happened, then go on to "remember" whatever Tifa was talking about. Like tifas memory was filling gaps in his own. Imprinting her memories over his.

That's why when they fell in the lifestream he needed to recall something she didn't by himself. And get her to remember. Because he couldn't be a clone of sephiroth if he remembered their childhood. But he had to remember on his own without guidance from Tifa. Without her leading him to the memory as she had done all game before that point.

If you watch this scene from ff7 it explains most of it. But it's long so from 6:30 to 7:30 will give you a quick and dirty explanation.

Cloud got his memories by listening to tifas stories (and zacks when he was comatose). He had to remember something she didn't lead him to. In remake he mentions something at 7th heaven that she remembers. Long before his identity is thrown into question. I noticed when it happened because it would be a clear indication that he was the true cloud.

 

[Faithless83]

It brings something new and no one said it will have to differ that much from the original story.
It could have different twists and end up the same.

Everyone loved the game "up until the ending" so why doubt if they delivered?

People seriously need to chill about it.

This is no Neil Druckmann sequel, we are safe.

 

[Grinchy]

I like the comparison people made to the Hobbit movies. They took a short book and tried to smear it across a major movie trilogy, which resulted in long, meandering scenes and way too much added filler. And that's this game.

They tried so hard to make it "feel" long that it just felt tedious at times. I started getting annoyed every time I came to a "side plot" chapter where I had hours of poorly written and poorly acted fetch quests before I could go back to the main story that was already being stretched thin.

And then they hit us with this change where they can now write the story however they feel like. This would be fine in other cases, but Square Enix hasn't been able to pace out a compelling narrative in decades. The whole appeal of this remake getting made was that even they couldn't fuck the story or characters up. And then they just had to go and change it so that they can make it however they want. That gives me no hope for the next chapters.

 

[JonnyMP3]

I like the comparison people made to the Hobbit movies. They took a short book and tried to smear it across a major movie trilogy, which resulted in long, meandering scenes and way too much added filler. And that's this game.

They tried so hard to make it "feel" long that it just felt tedious at times. I started getting annoyed every time I came to a "side plot" chapter where I had hours of poorly written and poorly acted fetch quests before I could go back to the main story that was already being stretched thin.

And then they hit us with this change where they can now write the story however they feel like. This would be fine in other cases, but Square Enix hasn't been able to pace out a compelling narrative in decades. The whole appeal of this remake getting made was that even they couldn't fuck the story or characters up. And then they just had to go and change it so that they can make it however they want. That gives me no hope for the next chapters.

I've bit the bullet after being bored and purchased the game last week. So far I've done 26 hours and on chapter 13 but I understand the filler and stretched out sentiment. The endless corridors of slums and tunnels and passageways in the last bunch of chapters have definitely enhanced the tedium compared to slightly more openness of topside.

 

[Madflavor]

It's a work of subversive genius, that gets better upon a second playthrough and deeper understanding on what they're going for and where it could go. There is so much love and thought put into the game, that while there's no guarantee they can pull off the next few parts, I wholeheartedly believe they'll be giving it their all.

While I understand disappointment from those who wanted a 1:1 remake, I still implore those people to keep an open mind. They've already stated you're not going to get a widely different story. For the most part you're going to get the same story, but with some deviations here and there.

Because of that the conversation is no longer "What will Part 2 cover?", or "What will Part 3 cover?". It's going to be "What's going to happen? Does Aerith know of the future? What's Sephiroth's plan? Etc, etc...". And that is vastly more interesting and engaging than the former.

Now we get to relive Final Fantasy VII while also experiencing something different, due to some unexpected twists and turns.

Aside from the story...

The voice acting, music, and the battle system is the best the series has been in a while. They FINALLY figured out how to properly mix action with ATB, while also giving full control of our party, and every party member feels fun and different to play.

It's not perfect (texture issues and padding), but when the game is good, man is it fucking good. It's easily the best Final Fantasy in almost 20 years. Part 2 is a Day One for me.

 

[The Hamburglar]

I hated this piece of crap, an insult to the original game.

The new plot is fanfiction retard level.

Agreed. It’s kingdom hearts trash

 

[ZZZZ]

I'll try. It's been years since playing the original but as I recall Cloud compiled his memories and personality from a combination of zacks and tifas.

Cloud would talk about the past (ie: being at nibelheim) and tifas recollection of the events wasn't the same as clouds, because cloud was wrong or had made up his memory. Tifa noticed the discrepancy but ignored it because she was sure this was the cloud from her childhood.

But if Tifa talked about something cloud didn't know, didn't remember, or that clashed with his recollection you would see him struggle internally. He would hold his head and you'd see the shadow version of cloud. Then all of a sudden it would stop and he would act is if nothing happened, then go on to "remember" whatever Tifa was talking about. Like tifas memory was filling gaps in his own. Imprinting her memories over his.

That's why when they fell in the lifestream he needed to recall something she didn't by himself. And get her to remember. Because he couldn't be a clone of sephiroth if he remembered their childhood. But he had to remember on his own without guidance from Tifa. Without her leading him to the memory as she had done all game before that point.

If you watch this scene from ff7 it explains most of it. But it's long so from 6:30 to 7:30 will give you a quick and dirty explanation.

Cloud got his memories by listening to tifas stories (and zacks when he was comatose). He had to remember something she didn't lead him to. In remake he mentions something at 7th heaven that she remembers. Long before his identity is thrown into question. I noticed when it happened because it would be a clear indication that he was the true cloud.

I get it, but that's just wrong.

You said "did square just forget he's not supposed to remember anything he doesn't hear Tifa say first??? ".
That's flat out wrong, he's not just a mix of Zack and Tifa's ideal version of him, the young shy and reserved Cloud is in there as well, that's the one that Tifa is trying to bring out when they fall into the Lifestream, the one Aerith wants to get to know ( gold saucer date ), and the one that keeps talking to him during his headaches in the OG and in one scene during Remame, " you okay?" " made it through just a couple of scrapped knees back then" he's talking about the Mt Nibel incident.
So saying that he's not supposed to remember anything if he doesn't hear Tifa say it first it's just wrong.
He's got mixed memories about the Nibelheim incident and who he was during his time at Shinra, but he does remember everything even stuff like him talking with his mother (he just assumes he's in SOLDIER uniform).

 

[Kev Kev]

I like the comparison people made to the Hobbit movies. They took a short book and tried to smear it across a major movie trilogy, which resulted in long, meandering scenes and way too much added filler. And that's this game.

They tried so hard to make it "feel" long that it just felt tedious at times. I started getting annoyed every time I came to a "side plot" chapter where I had hours of poorly written and poorly acted fetch quests before I could go back to the main story that was already being stretched thin.

And then they hit us with this change where they can now write the story however they feel like. This would be fine in other cases, but Square Enix hasn't been able to pace out a compelling narrative in decades. The whole appeal of this remake getting made was that even they couldn't fuck the story or characters up. And then they just had to go and change it so that they can make it however they want. That gives me no hope for the next chapters.

QFT

 

[Madflavor]

And then they hit us with this change where they can now write the story however they feel like. This would be fine in other cases, but Square Enix hasn't been able to pace out a compelling narrative in decades.

There are a lot of people who play FFXIV who would disagree with that.

The whole appeal of this remake getting made was that even they couldn't fuck the story or characters up. And then they just had to go and change it so that they can make it however they want. That gives me no hope for the next chapters.

Hold on now. It's obvious not everyone's going to be down with the new direction the story is going in. But they absolutely 100% got the characters right. Matter of fact they finally got Cloud right for the first time since 1997. There's so much depth and charm to the characters in the Remake, and a lot of that is due to not only the voice actors but due to the writing as well.

 

[Kev Kev]

Because of that the conversation is no longer "What will Part 2 cover?", or "What will Part 3 cover?". It's going to be "What's going to happen? Does Aerith know of the future? What's Sephiroth's plan? Etc, etc...". And that is vastly more interesting and engaging than the former.

thats the thing though, nobody asked for that. like, literally not one person wanted them to do any of these changes. there are people like yourself who are staying positive, making the best of it, and even some who like the direction theyre going. but no one wanted it to begin with.

in fact, just about everyone who was vocal about it said don't change a fucking thing. keep the story as close and true to the original as possible. basically everyone wanted that.

so... what did they do? lol you see what im saying?

but i do i appreciate your level headed approach, and i will take you up on the advice on giving the next parts a chance and being optimistic about the story being able to keep things fresh. as it is now though, square was skating on thin ice, and theyve now fallen in. and i dont think i care to go in after them they just havent proven to be a dev that put out good products, and its been going on for over a decade now.

we'll see... im really hoping they open up the world in the next game and that will be enough to keep my interested.

 

[Grinchy]

There are a lot of people who play FFXIV who would disagree with that.



Hold on now. It's obvious not everyone's going to be down with the new direction the story is going in. But they absolutely 100% got the characters right. Matter of fact they finally got Cloud right for the first time since 1997. There's so much depth and charm to the characters in the Remake, and a lot of that is due to not only the voice actors but due to the writing as well.

No I wasn't saying they fucked the characters up. I was saying that many of us were excited by the idea of the remake because even current day Square-Enix couldn't fuck any of these aspects up. They'd just be following the game that had already done it all right, so they had their blueprint.

I don't think the characters are a problem in this remake. But, the pacing of the story, the way it was stretched out, and the way they just said, "Ha! We can now write it the way we want to and don't have to stick to what worked so well back when we knew what we were doing!" are the parts they fucked up.

 

[Madflavor]

thats the thing though, nobody asked for that. like, literally not one person wanted them to do any of these changes. there are people like yourself who are staying positive, making the best of it, and even some who like the direction theyre going. but no one wanted it to begin with.

in fact, just about everyone who was vocal about it said don't change a fucking thing. keep the story as close and true to the original as possible. basically everyone wanted that.

so... what did they do? lol you see what im saying?

but i do i appreciate your level headed approach, and i will take you up on the advice on giving the next parts a chance and being optimistic about the story being able to keep things fresh. as it is now though, square was skating on thin ice, and theyve now fallen in. and i dont think i care to go in after them they just havent proven to be a dev that put out good products, and its been going on for over a decade now.

we'll see... im really hoping they open up the world in the next game and that will be enough to keep my interested.

For sure man, I completely understand why some people are upset. This is no big mystery to me lol. But truth be told, I honestly don't blame them for not wanting to dedicate 10 to 15 years of their lives retelling the exact same story. So if they mostly want to keep to the same path as the original, except with some new twists and turns to keep things fresh and interesting, I think that's understandable.

It's entirely possible that whatever deviations to the story lie ahead, could piss most people off. And that would be a shame. But it's also possible they could do some really interesting and cool things with this, that in hindsight will have history look back on FFVII Remake Part 1 as one of the ballsiest and brilliant storytelling manuvers ever.

Imagine the reactions people are going to have in future parts, when we come to memorable and iconic moments from the original, and then moments where the rug gets pulled from under us. There's a lot of potential here for this to be pretty awesome. I understand that some people are hesitant because Square has been shakey for awhile now. But I can at least appreciate that they're trying to do something interesting here, and there are, at least to me, signs that Square is getting better.

 

[UnravelKatharsis]

I get it, but that's just wrong.

You said "did square just forget he's not supposed to remember anything he doesn't hear Tifa say first??? ".
That's flat out wrong, he's not just a mix of Zack and Tifa's ideal version of him, the young shy and reserved Cloud is in there as well, that's the one that Tifa is trying to bring out when they fall into the Lifestream, the one Aerith wants to get to know ( gold saucer date ), and the one that keeps talking to him during his headaches in the OG and in one scene during Remame, " you okay?" " made it through just a couple of scrapped knees back then" he's talking about the Mt Nibel incident.
So saying that he's not supposed to remember anything if he doesn't her Tifa say it first it's just wrong.
He's got mixed memories about the Nibelheim incident and who he was during his time at Shinra, but he does remember everything even stuff like him talking with his mother (he just assumes he's in SOLDIER uniform).

Not saying that his entire personality is made up of Tifa and zacks memories. But the issue with him thinking he's a clone and Tifa helping him find himself was that he kept getting details wrong and he needed to remember something about their childhood that she didn't.

In remake he has already had a conversation about events from their childhood that she corroborated. If there had been a hint of confusion from her in that moment it could have been spun. Alas.

"Did square just forget" is mild hyperbole. But it seemed like that was a mistake.

 

[ZZZZ]

Not saying that his entire personality is made up of Tifa and zacks memories. But the issue with him thinking he's a clone and Tifa helping him find himself was that he kept getting details wrong and he needed to remember something about their childhood that she didn't.

In remake he has already had a conversation about events from their childhood that she corroborated. If there had been a hint of confusion from her in that moment it could have been spun. Alas.

"Did square just forget" is mild hyperbole. But it seemed like that was a mistake.

You have to remember that the translation team really butchered the OG despite it's greatness, heck they butchered the Remake as well.
Like i said, he already remembers the accident while Tifa doesn't even at the beginning of the OG, they just needed it to come foward, for him to realize he was "Cloud" before an experiment, i don't think him talking to Tifa about "some random childhood memories" is enough for him to realize that.
Even with his "Cloud" personality back in control after Mideel, it doesn't change the fact that he still is an experiment with Alien DNA inside him, he only gets fully out of Sephiroth's control after he beats him in the Lifestream at the end of the game, still... like every other Jenova cell in existence, they will always call for each other.

 

[Rean no Kiseki]

IMO it's the most fun FF to date, the story changes were perfect to me, there’s no need to remake anything 1:1 otherwise you'll end up with the Crash and Spyro remasters which is what they are a remaster NOT a remake, same old gameplay which is fine but i played those 20+ years ago multiple times and i grew tired of replaying them even though they look fantastic.

FF7R took the ballsy route, better gameplay, better storytelling and more fleshed out characters, Jessie and co no longer just paper cut out characters that's just there to develope Barret's characters, they have backgrounds and reasons to be part of Avalanche, and speaking of Avalanche in the original i always thought they were just Barret and friends not an actual organization.

What you call filler i call fleshing out Midgar and the sectors, true the original game doesn't really start until you leave Midgar but it was always the most interesting location in the game and i'm glad they did it justice here.

This game is one of my GOTYs and i'm onmy 3rd playthroughon hard and the combat is Still amazing and engaging.

 

[Dacon]

Hold on now. It's obvious not everyone's going to be down with the new direction the story is going in. But they absolutely 100% got the characters right. Matter of fact they finally got Cloud right for the first time since 1997. There's so much depth and charm to the characters in the Remake, and a lot of that is due to not only the voice actors but due to the writing as well.

I feel like they got everyone right but Aerith. She's much more annoying and obnoxious in this game, in no small part thanks to her voice actor, but there's niggling little annoyances left and right.

I think Razorfist put it best:



I disagree with him about the game on the whole being bad, but I agree with this assertion of Aerith's new character. Oh and they totally ruined Jesse, turned her into an obnoxious twat who is so thirsty for Cloud's dick she literally throws herself on him against his will. I miss the shy and more demure version from the original. They barely did anything with Biggs, Wedge and Jesse as it is, Biggs is just there, Wedge is fat and likes Cats(that's it that's his whole character), and Jesse is a failed actress who wants Cloud's dick and lies to her parents to steal from them.

 

[Boneless]

There's a lot to love, but it was ignorant and maybe arrogant of them to think that these changes would improve the story and the game. There are certain scenes in the original that are absolute gems (e.g. Shinra building) and I am not sure what they were thinking to change them. Its still great, but its a missed opportunity, it wouldve been so much better if they would've just stuck with enriching without changing.

 

[Lethal01]

There was only about 30 minutes worth of what I would call filler, Everything else was a great expansion of the original that made Midgar feel far more fleshed out.

I think they showed with this game they will knock the story out of the park so I'm happy that they made it clear they plan to continue putting thier own spin on things. The original story was far from perfect so I will also be willing to forgive if they eventually slip up a bit.

 

[Lethal01]

There's a lot to love, but it was ignorant and maybe arrogant of them to think that these changes would improve the story and the game. There are certain scenes in the original that are absolute gems (e.g. Shinra building) and I am not sure what they were thinking to change them. Its still great, but its a missed opportunity, it wouldve been so much better if they would've just stuck with enriching without changing.

What scenes are you thinking of?

 

[Xeaker]

FF7R was a average RPG.
The story changes were unnecessary and unwanted.

 

[sublimit]

Do you know how sometimes the more time passes the better you start feeling about a game you played?

Well for me with FFVIIR it's the oposite. I played it on day 1 and the more i think about it the less i like it. I don't have any desire to return to it for NG+ and it left a bad taste in my mouth.

-Mixed feelings about the combat.Sometimes it worked and other times it was a clusterfuck.
-Art direction was mostly great but the awful textures,the terrible lip-syncing during sidequests,and the early PS3 models for NPCs left me with mixed feelings (again) about it.
-The music was (mostly) great. Hamauzu once again proved what an amazing composer he is. And btw for the idiots who think that Uematsu worked on this remake FFS HE DID NOT! He only worked on one new song the rest are recreations of his old work and the rest are new compositions from Hamauzu and Suzuki.
-The pacing was atrocious. The game was stretched to no end with the most garbage filler content ever. I understand that somehow they needed to justify the milking by stretching it and dividing into multiple parts but FFS if you want to do that hire better writers and designers. Everything new they added was the definition of generic. Generic bosses,generic NPCs,and generic fetch quests.
-The forced slow walking almost made me throw my PS4 out of the window. Jesus Christ. Fuck that shit.
-The ending actually didn't disappoint me. By the time i reached it i was disappointed by the rest of the game so much that i actually appreciated how they deviated completely from the original. I laugh with those people who pretend to be fans of the original and say how they liked the game until they reached the ending.Lol.Are you fucking kidding me? You didn't have any problem with all the filler garbage before it and you only had a problem with the ending?? GTFO.

I'm a huge fan of the original but this game was one of my biggest disappointments in gaming ever.

 

[Green_Eyes]

It started off with a simple dislike, but by the end of the game I ended up loathing it for multiple reasons. I don't wanna get into it because there are people out there who enjoy this game, but man it's such a disappointment (and I wasn't even a huge fan of the original).

I never wanna see another remake from SE again.

 

[UnravelKatharsis]

You have to remember that the translation team really butchered the OG despite it's greatness, heck they butchered the Remake as well.
Like i said, he already remembers the accident while Tifa doesn't even at the beginning of the OG, they just needed it to come foward, for him to realize he was "Cloud" before an experiment, i don't think him talking to Tifa about "some random childhood memories" is enough for him to realize that.
Even with his "Cloud" personality back in control after Mideel, it doesn't change the fact that he still is an experiment with Alien DNA inside him, he only gets fully out of Sephiroth's control after he beats him in the Lifestream at the end of the game, still... like every other Jenova cell in existence, they will always call for each other.

I gotcha. And I get that he remembers the accident, he just doesn't remember it clearly. His misremembering calls his existence into question for himself and casts doubt with Tifa. Though she always believed he was really cloud. She needed him to remember and find himself more for him than for her.

Anyway like I said it had been a long time so I didn't remember things that clearly myself. Thanks for the brush up.

 

[ZZZZ]

I gotcha. And I get that he remembers the accident, he just doesn't remember it clearly. His misremembering calls his existence into question for himself and casts doubt with Tifa. Though she always believed he was really cloud. She needed him to remember and find himself more for him than for her.

Anyway like I said it had been a long time so I didn't remember things that clearly myself. Thanks for the brush up.

Just to clarify when i meant accident, i'm talking about Tifa and Cloud falling off Mt.Nibel as kids, that's what he's talking about when he talks to himself after falling to the Sector 5 church " made it through with just a couple of scrapped knees back then" , it's a reference to that accident, happens in both OG and Remake.

Glad i was able to help out.

 

[Fbh]

Yeah I have I have mixed feelings about the plot.

The game itself I really enjoyed, it's still my GOTY so far. It absolutely has some annoyances (sooo many forced walking sections) and it was clearly stretched thin in a few areas but I enjoyed a lot of the story additions, absolutely loved the combat system and boss battles, the music was fantastic and the visuals were mostly really nice too.

On paper I don't mind them deviating from the original plot, since it's clearly not a 1:1 remake I'm fine with new plot elements and changes. But the way they did it towards the end just feels so.... Nomura.
Up until the final 30 minutes it was fine....then we forget about the fun plot of this group fighting against the big evil corporation and basically out of nowhere we get into convoluted land with everyone getting out of character and talking about fighting fate and stuff.

 

[SkylineRKR]

I didn't really like this game, and the story wasn't my biggest concern with it.

I thought the story was stupid Nomura stuff that should've stayed in KH where kind of works. But not in FFVII.

My issues were the overall game design. The terrible side quests, the terrible level design. Midgar was just some tubes, hardly any real feel of exploration in it. The dungeons were mostly underground railroads, sewers and some shitty lab that was just there for filler. I liked going top side, but there was nothing to see. My biggest fear was that there would be filler since it was 5 hours padded into 40 and it came true. There is so much filler, forced walking, crouching, the sewers with leslie, the lab and the second reactor raid takes like 4 hours. I hated the chapter with the lights.

There were some highlights, such as the Jenova fight and the music kicking in. But overall I think I'd rather replay the OG game.

 

[EverythingsOverrated]

This is probably my biggest disappointment this gen. Overall the presentation was very good (save for the bad to average voice acting) and I liked the battle system quite a bit, but other than that, everything else was pretty average.

The story changes seem like something that they worked backwards from. They probably started plotting out all the plot points of the original and estimated how long it would take to do a full remake and they figured no way we're doing that. So instead they gave themselves a cop out for the rest of the "remake".

The filler was absurd. Both in side and main quests. The worst part is there was barely any additional character development with all the new stuff. By the end I didn't feel like I knew much more about the characters than I did from the first 8 hours of the original game.

My issues were the overall game design. The terrible side quests, the terrible level design. Midgar was just some tubes, hardly any real feel of exploration in it.

Never in a modern game have I been in a setting that looked huge but in reality was small and felt even smaller. The fact that you don't really get to free roam until the end of the game was also dreadful

 

[Oddspeak]

I loved the game, and I'm glad it's as stretched out as it is, because now we actually see fully-realized areas that were either one or two screens in the original or straight up only implied. The world of FF7 is big, and the original game came out in a time that could only allow a more punctuated experience. Only areas that felt anywhere close to "filler" is how insanely long Hojo's lab is, going through the sewers with Leslie, and, arguably, the underground lab after the plate fell, which seems to only be there to tie things to Dirge of Cerberus.

But better than a larger Midgar is the fact that the stretched story gives a fuck ton more time for characters to interact with each other and the world around them, which is the most important aspect of the story to me. I could give a fuck about anything else in this game, but if I didn't like how Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, or Barret were characterized, then it's a wash, even if the story otherwise stayed the exact same as the original. Thankfully, I love them.

Frankly, I don't need a shot-for-shot remake of the original game. It would offer nothing but the exact same experience but with better graphics, and when you look back at it, you'd likely still say the Original was better anyway. At least now, shit can be different -- surprising. For the first time in 5 years, I'm actually really into theories about what could happen next. It's exciting.

 

[UnravelKatharsis]

Just to clarify when i meant accident, i'm talking about Tifa and Cloud falling off Mt.Nibel as kids, that's what he's talking about when he talks to himself after falling to the Sector 5 church " made it through with just a couple of scrapped knees back then" , it's a reference to that accident, happens in both OG and Remake.

Glad i was able to help out.

I tracked. When I transferred my ff7 soundtrack over to itunes like 20 years ago I renamed the song that plays when tifas dad finds her and cloud in the ravine to "skinned knees." Always liked that tune.

*At first I didn't realize what you meant by accident but ya I got you

 

[Dacon]

My issues were the overall game design. The terrible side quests, the terrible level design. Midgar was just some tubes, hardly any real feel of exploration in it. The dungeons were mostly underground railroads, sewers and some shitty lab that was just there for filler. I liked going top side, but there was nothing to see. My biggest fear was that there would be filler since it was 5 hours padded into 40 and it came true. There is so much filler, forced walking, crouching, the sewers with leslie, the lab and the second reactor raid takes like 4 hours. I hated the chapter with the lights.

It really was shocking how small and empty the game world wound up being compared to what they promised, and how long it took to make.

 

[Madflavor]

I feel like they got everyone right but Aerith. She's much more annoying and obnoxious in this game, in no small part thanks to her voice actor, but there's niggling little annoyances left and right.

I think Razorfist put it best:



I disagree with him about the game on the whole being bad, but I agree with this assertion of Aerith's new character. Oh and they totally ruined Jesse, turned her into an obnoxious twat who is so thirsty for Cloud's dick she literally throws herself on him against his will. I miss the shy and more demure version from the original. They barely did anything with Biggs, Wedge and Jesse as it is, Biggs is just there, Wedge is fat and likes Cats(that's it that's his whole character), and Jesse is a failed actress who wants Cloud's dick and lies to her parents to steal from them.

No offense but I can't stand Razorfist. I think he's a huge fucking tool, but if you enjoy him more power to ya.

As far as I"m concerned Aerith was perfect in the Remake, and Jesse was an absolute joy.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

Since the game is treating the old plot as Meta, how much of that will it respect now that it has a new multidimensional plot?

this, i feel, is a very interesting question. a mystery. had they done a straight remake, everyone would be saying "Oh boy can't wait until they kill Aertith" instead of "What will happen?" somehow they are now making a remake trilogy where we honestly don't know where things will end up going. that's exciting! that's mysterious! i love it. i hope they do some really wild things with it. the remake was going to be controversial no matter what, i hope they go for it.

Do you trust the guy that made Kingdom Hearts to write an appropriate multidimensional replacement plot?

i bought FFVIIR and enjoyed it very much, so i guess so, yes. the plot of FFVII was never the strong part for me. more a reason to get shuffled from one cool location to the next, fighting cool baddies, meeting neat characters. we really covered all the important stuff during this first chapter as far as i'm concerned. i'm not a purist when it comes to story in these games. as long as they hit the highlights and general mood of the game, which they very much have in many ways, i find it a welcome addition to the canon.

the "multidimensional" plot doesn't give me a second of pause. people act as if Final Fantasy VII was a straight ahead plot, and not something long and rambling itself, veering off into bizarre tangents, with spooky supernatural elements and mysterious cloaked figures just showing up at random out of nowhere bc the story demanded it. the lead character constantly hearing voices and having flashbacks. i feel like people imagine that FFVII was a different game than it was. it was confusing. there was a lot of mistaken events and re-writing history and strange stuff in the story.

FFVIIR to me feel very much in the spirit, even if they play around a bit and scribble outside the lines in a few areas. it keeps things fresh. it makes me even more excited to see what they do next.

 

[LavitzSlambert]

Can someone explain to me where it was confirmed that there is a multidimensional plot going on? I interpreted the Zack scene as being a stylistic mashup of Cloud’s memories mixed with Aerith’s suspicion of how similar the two are. Not a literal plot device.

Maybe I’m just an idiot but I’m holding out hope the story will stay true to the original and all of this “fighting fate” is meant to put a haze over and keep people guessing when in actuality everybody knows how things will go.

 

[ZZZZ]

Can someone explain to me where it was confirmed that there is a multidimensional plot going on? I interpreted the Zack scene as being a stylistic mashup of Cloud’s memories mixed with Aerith’s suspicion of how similar the two are. Not a literal plot device.

Maybe I’m just an idiot but I’m holding out hope the story will stay true to the original and all of this “fighting fate” is meant to put a haze over and keep people guessing when in actuality everybody knows how things will go.

There's isn't any confirmation, not even on the ultimanias, everything is just speculation at this point.

 

[LavitzSlambert]

There's isn't any confirmation, not even on the ultimanias, everything is just speculation at this point.

It’s just surprising how the hive mind has bandwagoned this part of the plot when there is so little to go on. I think the most telling thing will be how they handle Aerith and her fate. I really enjoyed her character in 7R, she felt like much more of a real person and everything is pointing to set up the big event at the end of part 2 (unless they decide to condense everything into the single game, where it would happen halfway).

 

[Madflavor]

Most of it is just speculation, but I'm very confident that Sephiroth in Remake is Post AC Sephiroth, that somehow had travelled back in time. I also believe Aerith is somehow aware of the events of the Original Story. The how and why's are unclear at this point.

One thing that does bother me is how some people are claiming that they got Sephirith wrong in this game. That Square already blew their load on him and that he's in the game too much. That viewpoint really only works if you look at him with their perspective that he is OG Sephiroth, which he is not.

The first time you see him in the Remake, a surface level understanding would lead you to believe that they're already showing him off to you, because he's so edgy and cool right? But a deeper understanding will tell you that what he was actually doing was stalling Cloud so that he doesn't cross paths with Aerith. But then the Whispers hold Aerith in place so you do meet her. From there on, Sephiroth fucks with you where he can, to manipulate you into defeating the Whispers, so that they can no longer interfer with his meddling.

This is why I wish the people making knee-jerk reactions would try to be a little more open minded. I'm not saying they have to like it or have to think it's brilliant, but the writers for Remake clearly have put a lot more thought into this than the people who are complaining are giving them credit for.

 

[Boss Mog]

Haters gonna hate I see. Whatever, I liked it. It feels more like a potential sequel (with Sephiroth and Aerith both being aware of the events of the original) than a remake but I'm fine with that. No sense in playing the same game just for prettier graphics; If you want the original FF7 nothing is stopping you from playing it. I like not knowing what happens next, makes it interesting, and the way the game ends suggests that part 2 will differ even more from the original.

 

[Boneless]

What scenes are you thinking of?

From the prison cell, finding the dead bodies, the trail of blood and finding the president with a masamune in his back.

 

[Silvawuff]

Call me a fangirl, but I loved it. The game was great. I enjoyed it quite a bit and really enjoyed the twists. It's a complimentary piece to OG FFVII. People are free to ignore it and play the original, enjoy Remake, or enjoy both. I don't think this overshadows or "taints" FFVII and what it did for gaming. SE has been making FFVII compliment pieces for a while now, some of them better than others -- Dirge of Cerberus, Crisis Core, hell, even a fighting game from 1998 called Ehrgeiz. Cloud also had inclusions in Smash and Dissidia, as well as Kingdom Hearts. I feel that he's been a pretty divergent and prolific character across gaming for years, in the same pantheon of other popular video game characters like Samus Aran (just an example -- I feel like you can say "Samus" or "Cloud" to someone who appreciates gaming and they'll immediately know those characters).

I think the fate twist thing was a smart move since SE can basically do whatever they want now without having to slog out a true-to-faith 10 part series over 20 years. I'm looking forward to Part 2, and hope it continues to defy expectations for what a "remake" means. Nice write up, OP -- I enjoyed reading your thoughts about this. It's a divisive game, but I feel it hits differently depending on what your expectations vs. reality are, moving forward.