Final Fantasy VII Remake Will Include "Dramatic" Changes

[Sniper Team 4]

That's it! Time to cancel the whole thing. Burn everything to the ground, terminate all people involved with the project--even the coffee boy, and get rid of any scrap of evidence that this thing was ever even a thing.

Honestly though, I don't really mind. Granted, I would much prefer the old ATB, or even Final Fantasy X's version over...well, everything that came out after X, but I can still handle it. Just make sure I can hop between characters please, and I'm not locked in on just one for the entire fight.

Now, what would cause me to be concerned is if they started messing with the story and the characters too much. Many people have voiced concern that they're going to turn Cloud into basically Squall from VIII, instead of keeping him as a bit of a smart ass like he is in the beginning. Yeah, he's a bit broody, but he still had a sense of humor. Changing stuff like that, or taking out Barret's, or especially Cid's, epic swearing rants would be something that would actually get me a little upset.

But at the end of the day, I'm still buying this. I'm still playing the living daylights out of it. This is a game I have been hoping for for years, and it is my second favorite Final Fantasy. This is Final Fantasy VII. And even if it does turn out terrible, even if it completely destroys everything that made VII so beloved to me and many others, it's not like the original game has disappeared. I can still go back and play that if I want to.

 

[rcs619]

Aaaaaaaand here we go.

So, as much as I'd love for this remake to be a good thing, I really don't trust Square-Enix *not* to screw this up royally. They've got a classic, a game that is highly regarded and (for the most part) has aged relatively well. Slap a new coat of paint on it, get a good voice cast, plug a couple of the plot-holes and translation quirks and you're golden. You've got a billion dollar seller.

But they aren't going to do that. They can't help themselves. They are going to George Lucas the fuck out of Final Fantasy VII in the name of "fixing" it, and it's going to wind up being a mediocre, overly-serious, over-anime'd piece of crap like the four main-series Final Fantasy games.

The ATB system was the best battle system Square ever came up with, in terms of speed-to-depth gameplay balance. Part of the fun of the old Final Fantasies was leveling your party. Building them up with new equipment and moves, and actually getting to *control* them. When you whittle a game's battle system down to the point where you only control one character, not only do you remove a ton of the potential depth, but you remove some of the connection to the other characters. They go from being equal party members you control, to being a bunch of dumb NPC's you drag around and hope they do what they're supposed to.

Also, I'm not a fan of games like 12 and 15 where there's no transition between walking and combat. By and large, it leads to much more low-key attacks. I miss the oldschool Final Fantasy attacks and spells, they were flashy, they were cool, they weren't constrained by having to take place in the same field as wherever you encountered the enemy.

He would additionally indicate that the development team will be looking to the film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children as a visual reference, although they won't be using actual models from the movie due to the fact it's "almost ten years" old

This probably worries me the most though. Advent Children was a terrible movie. Some parts were actually cool (the fight in the church, and the fight against Dark Bahamut where the whole cast teamed up), but everything else was just... dumb. The plot made no sense, the new villains were completely disposable, and most of the rest of fights wound up being a bunch of floaty, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon wire-fu. When your fights are not grounded in some way, they lose their impact. The characters may as well be slap-fighting when they're floating around like leaves on the wind.

Also, in terms of visuals... brown, black, gray, drab. Everyone is wearing leather and zippers and Cloud's buster sword has become this overly-complex frankenblade with a dozen moving parts.

I really think they need to go back to the roots of Final Fantasy VII, and Final Fantasy in particular. That's what everyone fell in love with. That's where the heart was. Not in the over-designed, overly-philosophical, wannabe-anime junk Square-Enix has been putting out the last decade or so.

Here's hoping it turns out good though o: I do really want it to.

 

[Baresark]

LoL... All I hear is, "It's good, but I can make it better".

We'll see what happens, the chips will fall where they may.

 

[Saltyk]

I'm waiting to see what the combat actually is before I pass judgement on it.

*Gasp* Salty, are you okay? How can you not immediately jump to the idea that this new system will be complete and utter shit? It's just going to be garbage and ruin the name of the original. Obviously, you're a shill or in denial of how bad this news is.

Yes, I know. I know. That point is obviously good and valid and not full of hate while devoid of patience and thought.

However, hear me out. As much as I disliked the systems in XII and XIII, I think there are things that could be done to improve them. For example, slowing down XIII's combat system and switching between each character would actually make it a lot more fun. And giving the player access to all/most the Gambits from the beginning would have made the Gambit system more refined.

Think of it. A slower paced XIII battle system that doesn't have you inputting 16 commands at once could actually work for VII. Making combat feel more dynamic and fluid, but staying true to the game's systems and feel.

On the other hand, a system similar to Kingdom Hearts could also be utilized. Better if they let you switch between characters on the fly so that you can take advantage of their abilities. They could even make the character play slightly differently, too. For example, Barret could be slower than most characters while having higher HP and Defense, and Tifa could be quicker than most and have better damage with lower Defense.

Sure, these probably aren't what they are coming up with. Or they might be. Who knows? I'll wait to hear and see a gameplay trailer.

As for other changes, I wouldn't mind if they gave us the ability to save Aerith.

*Gasp* Salty, now you've just gone too far! You can't save her. Her death is important. She has to die. Any other choice and the game would be garbage and not worth buying.

Uh-huh. Now allow me to make a suggestion. Rumors of being able to save or revive Aerith have survived for years. I even heard one suggesting that if you were really mean to Tifa, she would push Aerith out of the way and die instead. And yes, I tried it. It didn't work.

So, I say Square should have some fun with it. Make some of the rumors a reality. Allow us to save her or revive her. But make it a bit difficult or secret. I think that would sort of celebrate FFVII. Not simply remake it with a fresh coat of paint.

Also, I'd like to be able to legitimately use the Buster Sword in the late game. Maybe let me upgrade it to be as powerful as other weapons?

Oh. And Cloud has to wear a dress. If he doesn't, the game really will be ruined.
[sub]Yes, I know they already said he will. I just wanna end on a somewhat funny note.[/sub]

 

[Estarc]

Hmm. Well. I appreciate having it confirmed to me so far out from release that I should kill my excitement for the remake. Preferable to them revealing sweeping changes like three months before we get our hands on the game.

The problem is that the Final Fantasy titles made under Squaresoft were so much stronger than anything they made after they became Square-Enix. Is everything Square-Enix has done with the FF series total trash? No, but as a whole the games whether main FF title or spin off have not been as good. And the combat of newer iterations has been especially weak.

 

[Something Amyss]

There was a certain novelty to the remake, in part because I wanted to see what they'd do with it. But the fact is, it's SE, so I assumed they'd screw the pooch somehow. I mean, maybe this will actually be a good change, but I don't care.

The important thing is, unless they unrelease the game for PC and PS systems, I can still play it on my desktop, laptop, PS3, and PS Vita. They can ruin the remake for all I care.

 

[Ygrez]

Cloud is being replaced by Lightning, because everyone loves Lightning!

 

[Metadigital]

Did anyone actually expect an FFVII remake to be anything but a massive controversial disaster?

Call me cynical, but how are you going to modernize one of the most influential console RPG's decades after its original release without distancing the majority of the players who look at the game through rose tinted lenses? What kind of dance on eggshells would you have to do?

With a game as well rated and financially successful as the original FF7, there's really nowhere to go but down.

 

[Flashmanic]

I think it's a little out-of-touch for Squeenix to basically deem the ATB system a thing of the past. Since the remake is as much for a new audience as it is old, I guess they assume people who haven't played it before would hate the old combat. I disagree, but that seems to be their reasoning.

I'm honestly not that bothered, though. The gameplay in FF games has always been secondary for me. I'm more worried about 'dramatic' changes they might bring to the story. Like i said, the remake is for a new audience as well as old. What will they deem too outdated or unsatisfactory for a newer audience?

 

[MonsterCrit]

uh, why? There was nothing wrong about FFVII's system and quite frankly all the systems they've done since then (save for FFX) have been either clumsy or just plain bad.

Squeenix. Over designing since forever.

Seriously. Squeenix. You don't have to Fix FF7.... for go'ds sakes it's one of the few FF8 games that you don't have to try fixing. Even the ATB battle system leant a pleasant strategic... wait a minute.... are you just slapping the ff& paint job over a FF you were already working on just to get people to accept it?... Bravo Squeenix, bravo.

 

[Laughing Man]

and it begins, the hope was there, the hope that we would get the original game with a shiny new skin and hopefully some decent voice work, with gameplay and feature changes only made to allow these new features to meld smoothly with the gameplay but you know what that was a dream. The second Square announced that FF7 was getting a remake I knew that they just wouldn't be able to leave the game alone, that the tweaking to the gameplay would start and now we get the first announcement that it will include significant gameplay changes.

The thing is the more they tweak the more they will have to tweak, change one part of the gameplay and suddenly you need to change another part to make the change work and then they have to change another bit to make THAT change and before you know it you have FF13 with a FF7 skin.

Face folks this isn't going to be a faithfully remake of a truly great game this is going to be Square destroying a mocu loved classic, a death of a thousand gameplay tweaks.

 

[Ukomba]

Heeeere we go. I LIKE the FF7 battle system. Of all the final fantasies, only FF6 and FF10 are on par. Changing it to FF12 or, god forbid, FF13 would be a travesty.

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

As long as they don't go with the FFXV-style action or have a single player controlled character and the rest under AI, I'll still check it out when it comes out. Still hoping they don't make Cloud brooding until he realizes his past, either. (Strong silent type, sure. He's supposed to be a mercenary at the start of the game. But let the characters keep their snark from the original game.)

They could probably improve a lot with the materia management and menus. Having some Command Materia cancel out other commands was always a flaw of the old system that I hated. One of the great mid-to-end-game activities was the support materia combos. New blue materia or green/red materia spell effects that compliment the old blue abilities would be nice.

Bringing in FFX's overdrive modes would also be a plus. That would open up more options for character customization without changing much of anything else.

Also, I'd rather have the characters in a modernized version of their old outfits (at least as alternate costumes). It just wouldn't be FFVII without a girl in a tank top and miniskirt pulling off martial arts and wrestling moves on 10 story monsters and mechs.

I feel merging the battle system of Chrono Trigger to that of FF7 would probably be a decent way to "modernize" the ATB system, except have the characters stay in place after attacking, maybe jumping out of the way of allies and stuff like that. Essentially, make it look 3D without making it "action". Another change that would probably be good (if implemented well of course) is giving each character some more unique abilities beyond limit breaks and stat differences.

Ultimately I'd be fine with a 1:1 port of gameplay and story (other than making translations better of course ), but as long as they don't make it into "FFXIII: Cloud edition" I'd be okay with gameplay changes as well. I'm of similar mind to Eclipse Dragon when it comes to story and Clouds personality though. Mess that shit up and there will be blood!

I like your Chrono Trigger idea. If they expanded upon the position based ATB system started in Chrono Trigger, that would be far better for the series than what they're doing with FFXV. I wouldn't even mind if some materia taught party member different abilities and they could combine techs like in Trigger.

 

[Diablo2000]

Cloud is being replaced by Lightning, because everyone loves Lightning!

No, silly you. He be replaced by Vaan because the target audience can't identify with Cloud.

 

[Akytalusia]

they had one job. just make it shinier. maybe polish the mechanics. maybe add some more content. but 'dramatic changes' is the last thing anyone wanted to hear. one step out of the gate and you're already ruffling all the feathers. *sigh*

i'll retain hope, and i'm sure the experience will be fine in the end. but seriously guys, have some respect for your source material. don't go changing everything that makes it special.

 

[VinLAURiA]

And now we watch that near-hysterical level of hype that was built up at the Sony E3 conference come crashing down. *grabs popcorn*

 

[ServebotFrank]

I really hope they keep away from the story, particularly I want them to stay away from Cloud's personality. Cloud always struck me as an anime Han Solo, not this brooding emo that keeps showing up in the spin offs and movies. In the original game, Cloud had all of those fake memories of him being a badass, which led to him believing he was a badass and acting like one.

That's what I'm really worried about for this remake.

 

[dragongit]

they had one job. just make it shinier. maybe polish the mechanics. maybe add some more content. but 'dramatic changes' is the last thing anyone wanted to hear. one step out of the gate and you're already ruffling all the feathers. *sigh*

i'll retain hope, and i'm sure the experience will be fine in the end. but seriously guys, have some respect for your source material. don't go changing everything that makes it special.

No, their one job wasn't simply to make it shier, polish it. If you want that, they have an HD verson of it on Steam.

They are Remaking, not remastering. How it is polish when they have to construct the cities by scratch? When an extended story has been established, and they need to make connections to them for continuity sake? Adding voice actors, and orchestrated music.

If really the main reason, why FF7 is beloved, is because of the combat, then people have their priorities skewed. There are a hundred different games of the time who had similar combat, and dozens of indie titles today who have it. So it wasn't the story, the characters, or any of that, simply the combat that made it a household item?

This isn't just for the old fans, Cloud, Tifa, Arieth (not aries because that actually was a translation error) and the rest, are all there. The story will in large, be there. We don't even know how the combat is going to be, but even if it is different, why should that be an automatic declaration of failure? I thought our society today prided itself on trying to be accepting, but I still see people giving knee jerk reactions at the drop of a hat.

If preserving the old combat, and in large, making the game almost completely identical to what was already made is all fans care for, then what would be the point of re making it? All they want is what they already have, no innovation, no change, just stagnation. We all claim we want innovation and ground breaking change, but we holler and scream if anyone dares to try and change something precious to them.

 

[kahlzun]

However they release it, we all know that 10 minutes after it comes out, our talented modding community will recreate the entire game, properly, word-for-word, in-engine.

 

[Akytalusia]

they had one job. just make it shinier. maybe polish the mechanics. maybe add some more content. but 'dramatic changes' is the last thing anyone wanted to hear. one step out of the gate and you're already ruffling all the feathers. *sigh*

i'll retain hope, and i'm sure the experience will be fine in the end. but seriously guys, have some respect for your source material. don't go changing everything that makes it special.

No, their one job wasn't simply to make it shier, polish it. If you want that, they have an HD verson of it on Steam.

They are Remaking, not remastering. How it is polish when they have to construct the cities by scratch? When an extended story has been established, and they need to make connections to them for continuity sake? Adding voice actors, and orchestrated music.

If really the main reason, why FF7 is beloved, is because of the combat, then people have their priorities skewed. There are a hundred different games of the time who had similar combat, and dozens of indie titles today who have it. So it wasn't the story, the characters, or any of that, simply the combat that made it a household item?

This isn't just for the old fans, Cloud, Tifa, Arieth (not aries because that actually was a translation error) and the rest, are all there. The story will in large, be there. We don't even know how the combat is going to be, but even if it is different, why should that be an automatic declaration of failure? I thought our society today prided itself on trying to be accepting, but I still see people giving knee jerk reactions at the drop of a hat.

If preserving the old combat, and in large, making the game almost completely identical to what was already made is all fans care for, then what would be the point of re making it? All they want is what they already have, no innovation, no change, just stagnation. We all claim we want innovation and ground breaking change, but we holler and scream if anyone dares to try and change something precious to them.

i'm not discounting it. 'change' is fine if it improves the formula. just making the observation that they've taken their first step in the wrong direction by making 'dramatic changes' since that means they aren't improving the formula, but introducing an entirely different formula from an already established one. i still have high hopes for it in general. their direction is just making me nervous and i'm hoping there aren't too many more of these 'dramatic changes' in the future.