Final Fantasy VII Remake Will Include "Dramatic" Changes

[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.

 

[Justank]

I really hope when he says drastic changes, he means creative changes ala Bravely Default. The Default system was fantastic and frankly to me proved that turn based JRPGs can still have interesting, fun, and strategic battles. Please be something that's creative in that regard >.<

 

[KingdomFantasyXIII]

I find it hilarious that people completely ignore the fact that he said "dramatic changes but still recognizable". It could most likely be FF10-2 combat with FF13 animations/movements put together.

And for the OP "old FF is better than modern" fanboy argument, FF1-3, FF5, FF8 and FF11, FF12 and FF14 (1.0) were far weaker than FF13. FF13 was far more superior to most of those games.

 

[Kajin]

Oh good. DLC to keep Aeris alive.
I've always said the cliche characters, predictable plot, repetitive combat, and exceptionally corny JRPG dialogue would have been SO much better if that one chick had survived.

But in all seriousness, are they serious? There is nothing they can add that will stop this game from bombing. The problem isn't lack of content, its that nostalgia has warped so many minds and people forget just how boring that game was, and that it was only considered good because of the time period/other games that were around at its release.
There have been so many better games since '97 that this remake will fly as well as a lead balloon at the event horizon of a blackhole.

I replay FF7 once every five years or so and I enjoy it every time. It's a legitimately good game. It just has a shit ton more hype than it's really capable of sustaining. Nostalgia has very little to do with it.

 

[CaitSeith]

Well... I was getting too hyped anyways.

Spoiler: One month ago, someone else predicted it...

[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/comicsandcosplay/comics/critical-miss/14199-It-s-the-shitty-bits-that-count]

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

I have the original FF7 on Steam. Never played it, haven't even installed it. It was the whole "bobble-head" design that turn me off the game. I amy get the remake, depending on how good the PC version will be.

 

[CaitSeith]

I have the original FF7 on Steam. Never played it, haven't even installed it. It was the whole "bobble-head" design that turn me off the game. I amy get the remake, depending on how good the PC version will be.

Ironically, the bobble-head doesn't happen for all the cutscenes or in battle. Just in the first half of the game or so. And in the rest of the cutscenes the design is more human proportioned.

 

[Ikasury]

Oh good. DLC to keep Aeris alive.
I've always said the cliche characters, predictable plot, repetitive combat, and exceptionally corny JRPG dialogue would have been SO much better if that one chick had survived.

But in all seriousness, are they serious? There is nothing they can add that will stop this game from bombing. The problem isn't lack of content, its that nostalgia has warped so many minds and people forget just how boring that game was, and that it was only considered good because of the time period/other games that were around at its release.
There have been so many better games since '97 that this remake will fly as well as a lead balloon at the event horizon of a blackhole.

*just starts laughing and doesn't stop till the world implodes*

oh... oh that would be rich... both first part and when people play the shiny remake, FF13 shitty combat system in place and all, and realize this game wasn't deep, it was relative crap story-wise as it was basically a checkoff list of everything in a JRPG, hell it BECAME the standard, and the most exciting thing about it was the combat system itself and finding all those weird little 'nothing to do with the main story or main love square' things like Knights of the Round, 7777, Weapons end game bosses, hero's drinks, those stupid pots, and the optional characters (who had more depth and better stories then everyone else) and all those extra summons (cept pheonix, it can go fuck itself and that damn tower defense game)... for me the most boring part was dealing with cloud and his emo crush on sephy and their wangst for Aeirs...

I honestly felt bad Tifa had to be stuck to the guy, would'a just taken the rest of them and had a trot off into the sunset hunting monsters or something and not deal with that shenanigans...

plus, Xenogears, in all its broken unfinished shenanigans was a billion times better... (can't beat god killing robots! )

if they change anything... ANYTHING about the combat... let me change out cloud so he can rot at lvl 1 in the unused bin with Aires... just saying... if it ends up like FF13 style only you're STUCK as that emo blonde prick, i'm burning the disk and using it as a sacrifice to the old gods, as obviously they're working since squeinx keeps getting 'great' ideas...

 

[Sheo_Dagana]

This was something they had mentioned a long while back, I can't remember when because a remake of FFVII has been something they've been questioned about a lot over the year. We likely won't be seeing the ATB gauge returned. I'm sure the story elements will also include alterations to Cloud's personality to make him into the mopey burnout that he is in the expanded story.

 

[gonenow3]

I don't understand the uproar over this?

If they changed nothing why would you play the new game over the old one which would probably be better combat wise anyway. If the game isn't different enough then why would you buy the game over watching all the prettier cutscenes on youtube. They need it to be different

The old FF7 combat system needed tweaking anyway given its horribly balanced so there was only 2-3 real combat choices for all scenarios (Or 1 if you do slots) so even if it was the original system people would quickly realize that it isn't as perfect as people remember.

Also to those saying DLC to keep Aerith alive the PC version of FF7 can have Aerith keep alive so its not even a new thing to the game (Hell you can have Aerith go and kill Sephiroth if you really want to).

 

[meiam]

When I first played FF7, I was a kid who didn't even know english. I beat the game and killed all the weapon, didn't even know that equipping material would change my character stats, I would just dumb random material on all my character, for almost all the game I would just chain cast summon and with one character (Barett) chain casting cure all. So yeah, I'd welcome change to make the game far more challenging so that mastering the game mechanic actually be necessary. Except that's not what SE would do, there probably just gonna make it so easy you can clear the game by just clicking auto battle.

I think what worry me most, after the fact that it's square enix, is that they specifically call it dramatic change. Change is good, dramatic change is stupid. Now maybe if this means larger battle were you're entire team is involved, maybe like FFX or last remnant, but still keeping it ABS based, then that could work. But it's seems more like there going for dierge of cerberus or crisis core dramatic change, both of which I cared for very little.

I think what I'd like would be:

-Limit number restorative item you can hold to 15-20
-Remove Tent
-Expand the weapon system so that weapon have a more complex materia link, with more slot effect. And give every character weapon a certain flair.
-Remove single overpowered materia (like double attack, 2x magic and so on) and transfer those effect to weapon/armor material slot with some more complex unlock requirement (i.e. need to slot certain color in certain slot)
-Expand on the stats change system on materia, maybe make it more dynamic in combat
-And, most import, make the game far harder (but avoid burst damage or damage song enemy)

 

[mad825]

I don't understand the uproar over this?

If they changed nothing why would you play the new game over the old one which would probably be better combat wise anyway. If the game isn't different enough then why would you buy the game over watching all the prettier cutscenes on youtube. They need it to be different.

I said something like that when it was announced. FFVII is regarded to be so perfect that they don't want a remake the fanbase want a straight-up full remaster, the same game done in a different engine.

I would express though I'm against removing ATB, the pace can be sped-up by removing the 15FPS cap and the system can be expanded upon

 

[vagabondwillsmile]

I'd be okay with a more action based battle system.
It's the story (and Cloud's personality in particular) I'd rather they not mess too much with, I probably won't get my wish.

The first thing to go will be clouds complex personality. Instead he'll be replaced by a brooding emo. Yuffie will be annoying instead of perkie. Tifa will be a moron and aerith will be a princess (instead of a flirty woman that threatens to crush a dudes nards).

The battle system will probably just be FF15.

Well, fuck us, I guess. Is anyone surprised?

Edit: in other news, Persona 5 = )

And all the hype instantly turned to worry. Sure there is some room for improvement and stream-lining of the ATB system. It needs re-balancing (it got way too easy and tempting to spam powerful summons and such). But the fundamentals of the turn-based system are solid. It's not broken. Don't "fix" it. I second your concern about characterisation. I like Cloud being a kind of psychotic, kind of eccentric, kind of quirky badass. I really, REALLY hope they don't change any of the essential characterisation for anyone. Advent Children was a cool movie when I first saw it; but it signaled a terrible change in direction for Square Enix. Bravely Default is still the lone shining star in the last decade, as far as anything I've played from them. I'm excited for XV though.

I also second your edit. Damn if Atlus doesn't know how it's done!

 

[thewatergamer]

Uh Huh, this is where my fears have sadly become realized... I wonder what else they are going to "dramatically change"

 

[Fox12]

I'd be okay with a more action based battle system.
It's the story (and Cloud's personality in particular) I'd rather they not mess too much with, I probably won't get my wish.

The first thing to go will be clouds complex personality. Instead he'll be replaced by a brooding emo. Yuffie will be annoying instead of perkie. Tifa will be a moron and aerith will be a princess (instead of a flirty woman that threatens to crush a dudes nards).

The battle system will probably just be FF15.

Well, fuck us, I guess. Is anyone surprised?

Edit: in other news, Persona 5 = )

And all the hype instantly turned to worry. Sure there is some room for improvement and stream-lining of the ATB system. It needs re-balancing (it got way too easy and tempting to spam powerful summons and such). But the fundamentals of the turn-based system are solid. It's not broken. Don't "fix" it. I second your concern about characterisation. I like Cloud being a kind of psychotic, kind of eccentric, kind of quirky badass. I really, REALLY hope they don't change any of the essential characterisation for anyone. Advent Children was a cool movie when I first saw it; but it signaled a terrible change in direction for Square Enix. Bravely Default is still the lone shining star in the last decade, as far as anything I've played from them. I'm excited for XV though.

I also second your edit. Damn if Atlus doesn't know how it's done!

Nomura could make positive changes. I wouldn't mind giving every character unique abilities in battle, so they're not quite so interchangeable, for instance. Clean up the translation for lords sake. Things like that. But we're not getting that.

Nomura isn't interested in giving us FF7. We need to accept that. He just wants to attach his name to a title that he doesn't understand. Whatever this ends up being, it will NOT be FF7.

 

[Dalisclock]

Wow, that was fast. It seems like just the other day that so many here were going nuts over one E3 video and with a single statement, which told us very little, the torches and pitchforks are out.

I liked FF7. It was the first Final Fantasy game I completed(though not the first I played), but I don't see the point of getting excited or ragey over this. Not until we see the completed product.

Though frankly I haven't cared about anything SE has put out in a decade. I finally got around to playing FF IX for the first time and after that I'm gonna play X and X-2. I just don't see the point of anything past that point.

 

[KenAri]

Let's pray it isn't FF13 but with the cast of FF7. The combat and the customization are two of the reasons FF7 is so wonderful. I wouldn't mind if they tinkered with the materia a bit; it did always bother me that magic materia reduced strength, so every single character had to either be Warrior or Mage. But a few number tweaks and some cool new ideas are all that required. Not a change to the combat.

I really don't get why they feel the need to stick their dicks in the formula. I honestly don't understand how a company can be as delusional;
>SS games are highly praised.
>SE emerges, and its games are criticised heavily
>SE decides to Enix all over an old SS game
>...Profit?

Like, why?

But ah well. Hopefully they do something unprecedented at SE and actually have at least one human playtest the game that isn't the guy who made it. Maybe it won't be a total disaster.

 

[gonenow3]

Let's pray it isn't FF13 but with the cast of FF7. The combat and the customization are two of the reasons FF7 is so wonderful. I wouldn't mind if they tinkered with the materia a bit; it did always bother me that magic materia reduced strength, so every single character had to either be Warrior or Mage. But a few number tweaks and some cool new ideas are all that required. Not a change to the combat.

I really don't get why they feel the need to stick their dicks in the formula. I honestly don't understand how a company can be as delusional;
>SS games are highly praised.
>SE emerges, and its games are criticised heavily
>SE decides to Enix all over an old SS game
>...Profit?

Like, why?

But ah well. Hopefully they do something unprecedented at SE and actually have at least one human playtest the game that isn't the guy who made it. Maybe it won't be a total disaster.

Issue is the traditional ATB system is a real pain to balance. Look at FF7 and you quickly realize that Cait Sith slots instantly wins all encounters and its stupidly easy to get consistent. If you don't want to use slots then Powersoul is easily better than all other options available and you just run down the list of OP stuff until you actually get actual options to use in battle so you can actually use things that people consider to be OP like Knights of the rounds etc etc etc. This problem isn't just FF7 since FF8 was literally just spam Limits over and over again since everything else was pointless. FF9 had Charge! win every single encounter but thankfully that move doesn't turn up until disc 3 and FFX had trio of 9999

As bad as people say FF13 is at least the combat system gives you options and is actually engaging at all points. Sure it has the auto play option but there is a huge amount of depth to that combat system that just isn't present in the ATB games. However FF13 has a really terrible story / overworld so people ignore the fact that the combat system is actually really good.

 

[w23eer]

Well, I mean, what would be the point if they didn't make changes? The original's still there. It's easy enough to adapt to the bad graphics and funny mistranslations.

 

[WhiteTigerShiro]

And so it begins. The needless tampering. I don't seem to recall anyone ever complaining about the combat unless they were griping about the long un-skippable summon animations, but even those saw their fair share of "At least it's cool looking" defense. Plus some (all?) summons let you mash a button during the animation to power-up their attack, so even the "worst" part of the combat at least had some sort of interactivity.

TLDR:​