Final Fantasy VII Remake: Reviews and ImpressionsThread

[Marik2]

It's a shame about the last couple of hours of the game. From what I saw, most of the game was fine and it actually improved from the original in some areas. Midgar looks great, Jessie is fantastic, the mini games look fun, and the combat is interesting.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

Spoiler

This is more than just FFVII fanfiction; it's Nomura throwing another tantrum over his beloved Vs XIII being scrapped like he did with Kingdom Hearts III. He's once again trying to force Vs XIII ideas into another game, but this time he's doing it with a story that was never his. And I get it. I get that devoting years of your life to a passion project only to have it never reach fruition is frustrating. One of my favorite directors, Tetsuya Takahashi, has devoted his entire career to doing that what with Xenogears meant to be one part in a massive, six part epic but he never saw that at Square so he did it in other ways with Xenosaga (to mixed results) and with Xenoblade. But he also never pushed that onto other franchises, he kept it to his own games, and he found ways to put a spin on things. He learned to move past it and grew as a creator, Nomura chooses to sulk at the expense of others' ideas.

And to be clear, not all of Vs XIII's demise was Nomura's fault considering that SE was pretty much a house of headless chickens at the time with XIII being overhyped as the new VII only to have divisive reception and its attempts at sequels to go on a downward slope in terms of critical and commercial reception which in turn meant that XIII's brand was so toxic they renamed Agito and Vs to distance them from it. And the less said about XIV having the most disastrous launch in SE history the better (though Yoshida has become a savior figure after pulling off the comeback of the decade). But anyway, Nomura wasn't fully responsible for that bungle.

However, make no mistake, Nomura is one of the most privileged people in the company. He's a guy who went from a character designer to the head of one of their most important teams and has been put as one of the shepherds of the FF franchise. This is a guy who has a HUGE amount of power in the company and keeps trying to make his beloved magnum opus happens, everyone else be damned. He is not some grunt, he's a hugely influential head in the company. This is the result of a man being told "No!" for the first time in years and becoming bitter about it. Having his privilege questioned is not something he was ready for. Nomura can keep wanting Vs XIII. It's never going to happen. Fuck him, fuck this game, and fuck the people at Square who keep enabling a middle-aged man throwing fits.

 

[Marik2]

What is Nomuras deal with Versus 13? It didn't seem to leave the concept stage at all, and it was constantly being rewritten. All I remember was that Noctis kingdom worshiped the grim reaper. And something about 3 games that would all take place in the same universe.

If he is going to be in charge from now on, then I don't want to see remakes of other final fantasy games.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Hard Mode details. [http://www.pushsquare.com/guides/final-fantasy-vii-remake-how-to-unlock-hard-mode]

Spoiler: Highlights

- Makes all enemies in the game more powerful -- they have more HP and do more damage

- Bosses have new attacks and different attack patterns

- You cannot use items in hard mode

- Resting spots only restore your HP, not your MP, in hard mode

- There are skill point boosting items that you can only unlock in hard mode

 

[Marik2]

The ending song is good.

 

[Silvanus]

Here is an article that details the ending. The majority of Final Fantasy stories are retarded, but they were never as retarded and convoluted like the Kingdom Heart games.

Spoiler

https://www.oneangrygamer.net/2020/04/final-fantasy-vii-remake-ending-completely-rewrites-events-reboots-the-story/106738/

Spoiler

Not all of those conclusions are actually borne out in the cinematic themselves (specifically about 'changing fate' by killing that Whisper Harbinger boss, or that act letting certain characters survive). It's not made clear at all what killing that boss will accomplish; those seem to be assumptions.

...Nonetheless, all of this heavily-changed storyline looks like absolute nonsense to me. Sephiroth saying to Cloud that he should join him and "challenge fate" at the "edge of creation"... is utterly out of character for their original incarnations, nonsensical rubbish that reads like a fan-fiction.

Plus, they seem to have forgotten that the Sephiroth you see for most of the game (such as in Midgar) isn't the real Sephiroth. There's a reason 'Sephiroth' doesn't even recognise Cloud on the ship.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

Spoiler

Not all of those conclusions are actually borne out in the cinematic themselves (specifically about 'changing fate' by killing that Whisper Harbinger boss, or that act letting certain characters survive). It's not made clear at all what killing that boss will accomplish; those seem to be assumptions.

...Nonetheless, all of this heavily-changed storyline looks like absolute nonsense to me. Sephiroth saying to Cloud that he should join him and "challenge fate" at the "edge of creation"... is utterly out of character for their original incarnations, nonsensical rubbish that reads like a fan-fiction.

Plus, they seem to have forgotten that the Sephiroth you see for most of the game (such as in Midgar) isn't the real Sephiroth. There's a reason 'Sephiroth' doesn't even recognise Cloud on the ship.

Spoiler

Not so much fanfiction as it almost seems like what JK Rowling would do if she got to rewrite Harry Potter and add in ALL the uncomfortable transphobia, racism, and other retrograde stuff she's been engaging in. You can't deconstruct a deconstruction like FFVII; it just leads to a bunch of confused mush that misses the point of the original game. And that's not even getting into how Nomura can't do these kinds of stories. He works best with well-worn tropes, not with deconstructive or metatextual narrative. God, this whole thing is going to turn into a shitshow for Square.

 

[Zeraki]

Without looking into spoilers it sounds like this game pulls a

Spoiler

Mass Effect 3 near the end (I guess the combat isn't the only thing similar to BioWare games).

So I imagine it's going to be pretty divisive.

 

[meiam]

Without looking into spoilers it sounds like this game pulls a

Spoiler

Mass Effect 3 near the end (I guess the combat isn't the only thing similar to BioWare games).

So I imagine it's going to be pretty divisive.

Spoiler light version.

Spoiler

It's not like mass effect 3. ME3 was a terrible ending because it ignored everything that happened in the previous 2 games and made no sense. Here the ending just confirm that the remake is not a remake and they'll be substantially deviating from FF7 story (in a way that makes no sense and doesn't bring anything to the story).

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Woot, Amazon finally sent me...the preorder bonus codes for the deluxe edition x.x.


Hope folks are having fun with this game, waited over 20 years so a few days more is not gonna kill me, now I'll be over here playing Outer Worlds not being salty one bit. XD

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

There?s a couple free themes [http://www.pushsquare.com/news/2020/04/two_free_final_fantasy_vii_remake_ps4_dynamic_themes_available_to_download_now] if you played the demo and have PS+

 

[dscross]

I'm hearing some very angry opinions from hardcore fans on this one. Luckily I don't have the same attachment to this as I do with resi 3 so I can just watch the debates passively.

 

[CritialGaming]

I'm hearing some very angry opinions from hardcore fans on this one. Luckily I don't have the same attachment to this as I do with resi 3 so I can just watch the debates passively.

As a hardcore fan, I can say that people are stupid. The game is great, and I'll be full reviewing it Monday.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

I never understood how people get their knickers in a bunch so badly over entertainment. There?s a distinction between hardcore ?fans? and ?fanatics? who don?t agree with the people that dedicate a good chunk of their lives both professional and personally towards making the products they?re shitting on. As long as it functions as intended, maybe try taking the artistic choices with a grain of salt and accept it for what it is.

If they have that much of an issue with how any game is designed, perhaps their lives need some hardcore re-examining until they learn to chill the fuck out. That or learn to make games themselves so they can walk a mile or two in those shoes.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

I'm hearing some very angry opinions from hardcore fans on this one. Luckily I don't have the same attachment to this as I do with resi 3 so I can just watch the debates passively.

As a hardcore fan, I can say that people are stupid. The game is great, and I'll be full reviewing it Monday.

Your other thread tying into this should?ve stayed open (*edit* never mind just noticed V2 has it) and if nothing else, just moderated to be kept civil. If a society is prohibited from addressing stupidity - which is inherently a human trait in the first place [https://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2019/03/02/what_is_stupidity.html] - then it will persist and proliferate until it changes that society for the worse.

Oh wait, it?s already happening.

 

[meiam]

I never understood how people get their knickers in a bunch so badly over entertainment. There?s a distinction between hardcore ?fans? and ?fanatics? who don?t agree with the people that dedicate a good chunk of their lives both professional and personally towards making the products they?re shitting on. As long as it functions as intended, maybe try taking the artistic choices with a grain of salt and accept it for what it is.

If they have that much of an issue with how any game is designed, perhaps their lives need some hardcore re-examining until they learn to chill the fuck out. That or learn to make games themselves so they can walk a mile or two in those shoes.

I never understood how people get their knickers in a bunch so badly over what other people think of entertainment. Perhaps your life need some hardcore re-examination until you learn to chill the fuck out. See how stupid that is to say?

 

[stroopwafel]

I never understood how people get their knickers in a bunch so badly over entertainment. There?s a distinction between hardcore ?fans? and ?fanatics? who don?t agree with the people that dedicate a good chunk of their lives both professional and personally towards making the products they?re shitting on. As long as it functions as intended, maybe try taking the artistic choices with a grain of salt and accept it for what it is.

If they have that much of an issue with how any game is designed, perhaps their lives need some hardcore re-examining until they learn to chill the fuck out. That or learn to make games themselves so they can walk a mile or two in those shoes.

Very well said. Agree 100% It always annoyed me how dismissive some gamers are or how they are shitting on developers while they themselves don't have a creative bone in their body and live insignificant lives. Then again it's also a multi billion dollar industry that sells a product so there is this element of 'consumer entitlement' as well. I do believe it's a fine balance as some fan or public backlash have had a positive impact like curbing lootbox games or promoting SP titles where fans do play a role as they are pretty much free marketing. Don't think we would have either RE2/3 Remake or FF7 Remake if cries from fans weren't so loud.

Anyways I'm massively enjoying FF7 Remake. Absolutely monumental achievement that does bring back that same magic as the original. Personally I really like the 'twist'. Without going into detail it feels like a meta-commentary on the passage of time. It really does make it feel less like an 'episode 1' and more like it's own thing entirely.

 

[McElroy]

Your main character jumping off a train and you get to control him immediately will always be the way to introduce Cloud. It's not about "they changed it, it sucks now", but about the choice the people at Square Enix have, because everyone knows what happens in the original game -- even zoomers have somebody to explain it to them if they don't search for stuff online. So how much mystery can they put into Sephiroth? Or any characters for that matter? They don't want to introduce characters like they would in 1997, so they do this fandom wank instead, 'cause why not? Everyone wants MORE, right? This is creative excrement.

I'll watch playthroughs of it, sure, but the game tilts the scale away from any sort of "games are art" -thing.

 

[Hawki]

Don't think we would have either RE2/3 Remake or FF7 Remake if cries from fans weren't so loud.

I can't comment on FF7, but I don't recall there ever being much clamour for a RE2 remake. Capcom reportedly considered it after the RE1 remake, but they announced it in 2015, and I don't recall ever seeing serious demand for it prior to that. And RE3 began being remade in 2016, so I don't think it owes its existence to fans either.

 

[balladbird]

I'm 7 chapters (14 hours) in, and digging it so far. I was hesitant to pay full price for 1/3 of a disc's worth of a 3 disc game, and while that trepidation hasn't fully vanished, it's mitigated a bit by the extent to which they truly have expanded this chapter of the game. Assuming they do have the entire Midgar arc in this game, and don't stop halfway through it, I think it'll be satisfactory as a complete product.

Gameplay is... fine. It's fundamentally the ATB system with extra steps, but that's fine. Didn't need to reinvent the wheel here. I was worried it may be too hack-and-slashy, but it's actually fairly in-depth, and would punish you for brainlessly charging in a bit. I'm playing on normal, and while I wouldn't say I've seriously struggled... I have yet to use a phoenix down, for instance, each of the boss fights has been fairly intense and pleasant.

Visuals are where the game shines, envisioning the metropolis of Midgar as two cities stacked atop each other more perfectly than any piece of FF7 media before it. I'm not an expert on graphical fidelity or the like, so that's all I can really say here. I'm sure someone more knowledgable than I can talk about resolution and frame rate and stuff. I do appreciate that they seem to have some kind of system in place that alters the lip flaps of the characters so they match no matter what language you select. It's neat how well the lips match the words in both english and japanese.

Story is final fantasy 7. There's not really anything wrong with it that wasn't already wrong with FF7. Some very, *very* anime scenes and character interactions, so if that's not your thing... well, I'm not sure why you would consider this game anyway. The game is paced fairly well, and while content is added liberally to expand most every aspect of every part of the game you'll remember from childhood (again, adapting 1/3 of 1 disc into a full product) it's mostly done in an organic way.

One thing that everyone has pointed out is how much more Avalanche's grunts have been fleshed out... which is true I guess... provided you refer to Jessie and only Jessie. At this point in the story, she could be argued to be more of a main girl than either Tifa or Aeris, and while I'm definitely happy she's getting a moment to shine, I kinda hope Biggs and Wedge get to be a bit more than the mario and the fat guy... The cute girl wasn't the only avalanche grunt, square! XD

Having fun with it so far... I get nervous with how short some of these chapters are, since I know the story is going to come to an abrupt halt and I really want to make it to the point where my boy Rufus shows up. Guess I'll reserve final judgement for when I've finished the entire thing.