Final Fantasy VII Remake

[richoval]

What an amazing game... but the soundtrack is even better!!!

 

[SilverEars]

Recently got a copy of it for PS4. It's overall a good game, especailly for those grew up playing the original version.

Personally, I wish it was turn-based than real-time. With real-time, controlling the camera is clunky.

The graphics is obviously a much improvement over the original, and lots of aesthetically beautiful cut-scenes, and character design, and animation was the highlight here. I found it's graphics outdated however, and I wish the ingame graphics was much more polished. Some of the rendering was just primitive looking. There is still some difference between the quality of rendering of objects during game-play and cut-scenes.

I think the character design is most valuable in this franchise. FF7 just had good charcter development, and without them, this game wouldn't be the same. Majority of the weight is on the characters.

They did the character graphics update justice, and looked exactly like how I would imagine them.

Lots of boss fights, and they can be challenging, but also fun due to requiring of figuring out strategy. I don't recall the original turn-based version being as touch with bosses.

I find that the old turn-based makes everything clear-cut, easy to see, but the real-time with camera opens up for bad angles, etc..

But, I got to say controlling Cloud real-time with his sword, and his slash actions are very satisfying. I wouldn't mind a Ninja Gaiden type game with Cloud as the main character. Creating a game with Cloud with action fighting variations strategy could be neat.

 

[SilverEars]

More opinions on this game. I'm a bit mixed on how I feel about it as I got much more into the game. I still standby that the concepts of characters the world are really well thought out. Design visual mainly.

The non-remake original was an obvious classic due to it coming out at a perfect time, but it's old and aged if we look at it now. The concept was the most original at it's time, and the use of polygon technology was super fresh.

With the remake, I find the execution could have been better. The dialogs have the cheeziness to it, and I think it's due to translation from Japanese. Cringy dialog scenes like usually with Asian dramas/doramas. Graphics of the cut scenes are good, but gameplay graphics have some stuff that should have been buffed out, like the low resolution rendering that shows up time time. The sky and ground background image was just a flat 2D imaging and looked odd. I wish they added some depth to the background imaging as this looks really cheap and gives off the impression they went with the easiest and worst looking lazy solution.

Puzzles are really dumb and simple, and I wish there were challenging puzzles like the classic SNES Terranigma, which is the best JRPG ever made with puzzles.

Battle mechanics are excellent. This game is really about boss battles, and I'm on normal mode, and it does get challenging. Boss battles makes it feel like in-between boss battle stuff are just unnecessary fillers. There are some things that are not so obvious like boss character's weakness, which you have to figure out, and different strategies of attacks. I'm impressed with the various strategies you have to figure out to beat them, and it's not some repetitive stuff you see on most JRPGs, it actually takes thinking (although I had to refer to online guides sometimes).

Negative is that the battles are damn long! There are multi-phases the bosses transition, and even from the beginning I was losing my patience due to long battles. I probably got ADD. Due to these negatives, once you beat the bosses, it's much more satisfying!

Materia system is cool, and it opens up for various battle strategies. Limits and staggering is really cool battle features, as I ended some bosses with limits. Staggering adds to figuring out strategies of beating the bosses. Limits feel like super moves on fighting games, and it's perfect way to finish out the opponent.

In conclusion, battle mechanics and charcters are what makes this game, but story directing is barf worthy. lol Other than boss battles, and battles mechanics, I can't say other stuff utilized much creativity.

 

[morphine]

I've decided to wait to get this game, but want to get your thoughts.

Over the last 5-10 years, I find it harder and harder to find time to play games, and when I do I find it's harder to keep my attention on them. Long gone are the days of sitting around all afternoon playing video games instead of going to classes. There are still games that are released, every once in a while, that look fun and I purchase them only for them to inevitably sit in shrink wrap for years. I now have an extensive backlog both on consoles and on Steam - heck, I bought a PS4 Pro to play FF15 and only played it for 5-6 hours.

So back to FF7 Remake. I'm of the opinion that I should wait for the other games to come in, and then just buy them all in a few years when they're $10. Is this so compelling I should go out and buy it now?

Also, am I alone in thinking that if this were FF6 remake or Chrono Trigger remake, I'd be buying it and playing it day 1?

Boy do I sound old

 

[SilverEars]

I've decided to wait to get this game, but want to get your thoughts.

Over the last 5-10 years, I find it harder and harder to find time to play games, and when I do I find it's harder to keep my attention on them. Long gone are the days of sitting around all afternoon playing video games instead of going to classes. There are still games that are released, every once in a while, that look fun and I purchase them only for them to inevitably sit in shrink wrap for years. I now have an extensive backlog both on consoles and on Steam - heck, I bought a PS4 Pro to play FF15 and only played it for 5-6 hours.

So back to FF7 Remake. I'm of the opinion that I should wait for the other games to come in, and then just buy them all in a few years when they're $10. Is this so compelling I should go out and buy it now?

Also, am I alone in thinking that if this were FF6 remake or Chrono Trigger remake, I'd be buying it and playing it day 1?

Boy do I sound old

It's understandable that anyone can be back-logged these days as there has been a large library of games built up over many decades. Most of us that work, we really don't have a lot of time to devote to games that take hours of our time to finish. I really don't know how people out there can devote so much of their time and finish many RPGs these days as they require gobs of time to complete. This is especially difficult if you have other hobbies besides video-games.

This is the way I do it as I have other hobbies, and I can't put so much time into video games. I'm very selective of what I wish to spend my time on, and FF7 is one of the few that drew my interest. I never really was interested in owning a PS4 console, and there really isn't that many games worth play on the console.

There's so much selection out there that, you must learn to narrow down to ones that's worth the time. It's overwhelming the amount of content out there. Netflix has so much garbage not worth the time, and we waste so much time going through the catalogs.

Like you, I tried FF15, and I really disliked it, and my interest went south quickly. I think FF7 remake is different, it's much better developed than FF15, which seemed like there really wan't any solid direction to the game.

If you are not so eager to try out FF7, then you should wait until the price drops, but it would likely take a while for it to happen. It's all a matter of how much you want to play it. I bought a copy, and I'll likely just sell it at small loss after I complete it.

I personally don't care much for modern games. They have nice graphics, but gameplay is quite lacking, and I wouldn't mind playing retro stuff with much better gameplay, and same money.

 

[morphine]

Helpful perspective thanks! I liked the original FF7 and purchased a PlayStation 1 to play it. Sounds like you're overall pretty high on how good remake is.

 

[340519]

When I saw the lovely intro with the flower girl, and the zooming out to show the city, I was awestruck with emotion. It does enhance the feel of the original with the added details. I love the original score of the music tracks as well. It's one of those games that's nostalgic. I think these old games when the graphic capabilities weren't so good had great character design and art.

It would be interesting to see Chrono Trigger remastering.

I played this day one when the original came out. My university roommates and I did not leave the house for three days. Good times.

 

[stephenlee2801]

I personally think the game is fantastic. As you progress through the game you realise that the battle system is much more nuanced than it appears on first instance (it discourages button mashing and has lots of depth with the abilities / purple materia). My favourite aspect of the game however is definitely the soundtrack. Like the rest of the game, I thought they did a fantastic job of retaining the nostalgia and familiar emotions with such a fresh and innovative take. The only complaint I have is that the game does have a bit of filler (unavoidable) but otherwise I think it's as close to a perfect remake as you can get.

Really looking forward to the next iterations (which I think will do away with alot of the filler as they're not bound by a section of the game which originally only took 8 hours to complete).

 

[SilverEars]

Helpful perspective thanks! I liked the original FF7 and purchased a PlayStation 1 to play it. Sounds like you're overall pretty high on how good remake is.

Initially, I wasn't much into it. It started off with a bad balance of difficulty. The boss fights starting off was tougher than I imagined for the begining part of the game. And it felt abit bland in how the story starts off and lot of ehat it seems to be time wasting fillers.

They should have done a better job pacing the difficulty level, and getting player acclimated into the battle system as time goes one.

For me, the bosses in the begining seemed more challenging that it should have been. I had to look at guides to figure out how to beat them, and over time I figured out all the tricks to beat the bosses, and got easier later on after learning how to deal with different situations with different enemies. The baytles in tbis game takes some active thinking. It's not some jrpg with mundane repitative battles.

They should have set the game so that the player gradually learn build themselves up into various skills.

Now that I'm much deeper into the game, I can say that the game does get better.

 

[SilverEars]

I've decided to wait to get this game, but want to get your thoughts.

Over the last 5-10 years, I find it harder and harder to find time to play games, and when I do I find it's harder to keep my attention on them. Long gone are the days of sitting around all afternoon playing video games instead of going to classes. There are still games that are released, every once in a while, that look fun and I purchase them only for them to inevitably sit in shrink wrap for years. I now have an extensive backlog both on consoles and on Steam - heck, I bought a PS4 Pro to play FF15 and only played it for 5-6 hours.

So back to FF7 Remake. I'm of the opinion that I should wait for the other games to come in, and then just buy them all in a few years when they're $10. Is this so compelling I should go out and buy it now?

Also, am I alone in thinking that if this were FF6 remake or Chrono Trigger remake, I'd be buying it and playing it day 1?

Boy do I sound old

If you haven't bought it yet. wait. Not worth it. I disliked how they designed the battle with the bosses, and it's not an enjoyable experience. I think the battle system is for those more hardcore gamers that don't mind taking time experimenting. Boss battles seem to be about luck at times, and I beat some of them barely with limit breaks or with summons.

The last boss really pissed me off. They put you through multiple phases that take forever with no save points in between. It wastes like 20min every attempt, and it's bs (it's like they purposely designed it to waste your time). That was the tipping point, and I give up on this game. I have no motivation to play on easy mode. Only thing I appreciated was the cool cut scenes, but whoever directed this one didn't balance this game out. Normal mode was too difficult, and there should have been better tutorials to point important battle elements out to people that would be crucial throughout the game. There were 2 elemental materias I missed, and it should have been easier to get. They didn't fine tune that game enough to be enjoyable.

I can't believe I spent so much time on this, and ending boss was designed so terribly. Waste of time.

There's some weird crap like manually walking up 69 flight of stairs. What? So weird. Controlling characters for certain scenes are really dumb, and just should have been done with cut-scenes. Because it's really pointless.

If anybody decides to get this, make sure to get a proper guide, there are some crappy Youtube videos out there that don't know what they are talking about.

 

[morphine]

Haven't purchased it yet! Thanks for the update SilverEars. That sounds frustrating.

I also find, as I get older, that I have less patience for figuring out the quirks of a game. I do wonder whether that's more on me than on the game designers.

Speaking of the 20 min per attempt, remember how there was no save at the end FFX? You needed to walk to where the last battle takes place (with random encounters on the way), then you're teleported to a place where you can gather items, and then you watch a 5-10 min cutscene before the fight. The first time fighting Jecht, it took me a dozen tries to beat him, and the lead up to the fight got really old.

 

[SilverEars]

Haven't purchased it yet! Thanks for the update SilverEars. That sounds frustrating.

I also find, as I get older, that I have less patience for figuring out the quirks of a game. I do wonder whether that's more on me than on the game designers.

Speaking of the 20 min per attempt, remember how there was no save at the end FFX? You needed to walk to where the last battle takes place (with random encounters on the way), then you're teleported to a place where you can gather items, and then you watch a 5-10 min cutscene before the fight. The first time fighting Jecht, it took me a dozen tries to beat him, and the lead up to the fight got really old.

Yes, older you get time gets much more important. And also crankier. lol Your anecdote describes exactly the situation (these game designers need a slap in the face to wake them up sometimes). If you have nightmares from that experience, wait until price drops.

 

[kman1211]

Been wanting to play this game, but I'm a PC gamer so waiting to see if it will be announced for the PC in the near future, but I'm okay waiting till all the parts are out. Sadly never had the chance to play the original FF7 as I had an N64 when I was young instead of a PS1 and the graphics are too hard of a pill to swallow now. Currently playing FFXII: The Zodiac Age off and on. And pretty consistently playing FFXIV: Shadowbringers which has honestly been one of the best FF experiences I've had so far.

 

[morphine]

Thanks SilverEars - with that, I'll hold off until the others are released.

kman, I liked FF12 when I originally played it. At the time, I was still playing FFXI and felt like many of the mechanics of 12 were a single player version of an MMORPG. I've heard good things about 14, and may give it a shot when they streamline the quests.

 

[kman1211]

Thanks SilverEars - with that, I'll hold off until the others are released.

kman, I liked FF12 when I originally played it. At the time, I was still playing FFXI and felt like many of the mechanics of 12 were a single player version of an MMORPG. I've heard good things about 14, and may give it a shot when they streamline the quests.

I never played FFXI but have heard a lot of people enjoyed it. I do find that is true about XII, one complaint I do have is the English audio has some bad compression on everything but the nice cutscenes, its not an issue when I switch to Japanese audio. The voice acting itself is fine in English, so I do play it in English but the compression can be annoying. Problem with JRPG’s is how cheesy and poorly voice acted they can and unless the dub is good I usually play the native language.

Honestly XIV is a fantastic game though the story does have a slow start (but it gets really good later) and it needs the streamlining of the base game which will happen August 11th. I also gather the free trial will be up to lv 60 once that patch comes out meaning you can play up till the end of the first expansion and its post content free. English voice acting in the first part of the game (ARR) is terrible and stiff, I suggest playing in Japanese audio during this part then either stay with it to keep the most consistent experience or switch to English when you reach Heavensward (when they switch English va studios, so all new va’s with British accents). I love how diverse, enjoyable, and large FFXIV’s soundtrack is; most original tracks of any game ever made.