The Official Final Fantasy thread
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Re: The Official Final Fantasy thread
I'm only have just joined Aerith, going back to Sector 7.
I think you guys are further ahead right? @thimmy @BarrileteCosmico
I think you guys are further ahead right? @thimmy @BarrileteCosmico
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Re: The Official Final Fantasy thread
You weren’t the biggest fan of the original game, right? So, it makes sense that any changes, both minor and drastic ones, don’t bother you. I get the impression that we generally have quite different tastes when it comes to Final Fantasy games, as you’ve stated several times that you’ve enjoyed the more recent games in the series far more than I have.
For all of their shortcomings, I really miss the distinctive atmospheres of the Playstation One era- FF games. They were quite consistent in setting a particular mood, and only changed it up every once in a while. The newer games don’t seem to have prioritized using both audio and visuals to create a tangible atmosphere. They’ve all been mostly generic in that respect. At least, that’s the impression I get from them.
For better or worse, this remake is much more similar to the more modern games than the older ones. Of course, that doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy it. Like I said before, I’m already looking forward to the next game.
I appreciate some of the new changes, but I also miss certain things from the original. Right now, I’m back at the 7th Heaven for the second time, after getting sent down to the sewers by Don Corneo.
For all of their shortcomings, I really miss the distinctive atmospheres of the Playstation One era- FF games. They were quite consistent in setting a particular mood, and only changed it up every once in a while. The newer games don’t seem to have prioritized using both audio and visuals to create a tangible atmosphere. They’ve all been mostly generic in that respect. At least, that’s the impression I get from them.
For better or worse, this remake is much more similar to the more modern games than the older ones. Of course, that doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy it. Like I said before, I’m already looking forward to the next game.
I appreciate some of the new changes, but I also miss certain things from the original. Right now, I’m back at the 7th Heaven for the second time, after getting sent down to the sewers by Don Corneo.
- Spoiler:
- The whole Honeybee Inn, queer Moulin Rouge thing felt really out of place, in my opinion. I suppose that’s just typical «Japanese craziness» and I’ve seen similar things in other Japanese entertainment, but it just didn’t fit in here, in my opinion. Cloud being dressed up as a chick in the original, was a timely and appropriate distraction from the doom and gloom leading up to that point in the game, but in FF7R the doom and gloom seems much more symbolic in comparison.
You are occasionally reminded that there are bad guys out there. Heidegger and co look great with updates visuals, voice acting and whatnot, but the impending doom isn’t emphasized enough - at least, not enough to create the contrasting atmosphere that the original had, if that makes any sense. This is what I mean with this remake feeling more similar to the newer games. It helps that they’ve kept most of the original songs, but comparatively speaking, again, I preferred the original’s approach to creating a distinctive, more tangible atmosphere in each area.
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Re: The Official Final Fantasy thread
Thimmy wrote:You weren’t the biggest fan of the original game, right? So, it makes sense that any changes, both minor and drastic ones, don’t bother you. I get the impression that we generally have quite different tastes when it comes to Final Fantasy games, as you’ve stated several times that you’ve enjoyed the more recent games in the series far more than I have.
Most of my top 10 games would be FF games, so in that sense I'm a fan of FF7. Just within FF, 7 isn't at the top like it is for a lot of people, particularly Midgar I didn't care much about. I preferred my FF to be an epic (pseudo-)medieval adventure rather than gloomy corporate sabotage. 9, 10, 5 and 6 are my favorites, in that order. After that it's probably 7 and 12.
My mindset is the same still, FFIX is my favorite game of all time but I would be more excited by a remake project like this one than with a 1 for 1 remake with updated graphics. I prefer to play a reimagined version of it, since I can always play the original as it is. For something like FFVIII, maybe my least favorite in the series, I would love this remake.
For FFX and forward a remake like this wouldn't make much sense for me since it's already quite cinematic and in the same style. There I prefer remasters like the FFXHD or FFXII zodiac age.
I see your point though, like I said in the other page, I expect parts of the fanbase to have different expectations about what the remake should be. For me this is a resounding success so far but for those who just wanted the same game but with 2020 visuals the story changes may bother them.
Thimmy wrote:For all of their shortcomings, I really miss the distinctive atmospheres of the Playstation One era- FF games. They were quite consistent in setting a particular mood, and only changed it up every once in a while. The newer games don’t seem to have prioritized using both audio and visuals to create a tangible atmosphere. They’ve all been mostly generic in that respect. At least, that’s the impression I get from them.
This is just subjective for us. I prefer story based games much more over open world narratives, atmosphere and story are the main thing for me. The atmosphere in FF7R has been amazing, Midgar feels very much alive and I feel the characters (and their actions) totally connected to the world. The whole experience of just being in that world and narrative is the best thing in this game for me so far. Now FF7R takes the already GOAT soundtrack of the original and improves it. Music and visuals is the one thing that Square never declined on for me. I'm much more engaged with the reactor and Avalanche missions this time around since you live it more, that's the benefit I see of this remake approach. I'm not waiting to see Sephiroth, Hojo, Ancient stuff, etc. like I'd be in the original game.
Walking through Midgar every other NPC talks about their own consequences/views/news of what you and ShinRa are doing. It can't be 40 hours of doom though, that would just be tiring, FF games have always switched up the mood and pace to feel fresh. FF7 itself was a wacky game, Cloud and Barrett take themselves way too seriously and trying to be cool tough guys while silliness around them undermined it. There were plenty of jokes, you fight a house, crossdress, do a squat contest, mess with the Turks, etc. just in Midgar. You ride a dolphin that jumps up a tower, can't wait to see how they approach that one in the next game . Golden Saucer, Costa del Sol, Fort Condor, Cait Sith exists, etc. It's one of the most "out there" FF games in terms of mood.
Really looking forward to seeing what they do with Cait Sith since he didn't even make sense in the OG. There is already the Cait Sith theme song in the game plus his picture so I have hope he will be in the party eventually.
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Re: The Official Final Fantasy thread
@thimmy @BC
- spoilers up to the start of Ch8:
When Cloud fell through the church and got "woken up" by someone in his mind, I thought that it was Zack at first and got hyped to see him again (favorite FF7 by far). Then it got weirder by seeing that it was Cloud himself saying something like "I got by with only a few bruises last time".
Between this, Sephiroth's visions, and the specters things are gonna get weird. Hyped to see where this goes.
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Re: The Official Final Fantasy thread
Yeah, the original FF7 was wacky. The wacky parts were scattered, though, and I think they were consistent in creating a particular mood based on the area or setting. I think they introduced wackiness rarely enough to make them surprising.
As for the audio in the areas where they don’t use the original tracks, It’s hit or miss for me. I thought the battle theme during the second mako reactor bombing sounded awfully stale and generic. Then again, they modified a battle theme later in the game to sound more.. bombastic than it originally was, which I don’t mind.
I thought that was Zack, as well. I wonder how long we’ll have to wait for part 2. I have to say, I love the increase in combat difficulty in this game. Cloud is probably your safest bet as leader, but I’m running with Tifa for quick battles. With her speed/ATB gauge boosts, she can make quick work of most non-boss mobs, either through dishing out heavy physical damage or forcing them into pressured/staggered state.
As for the audio in the areas where they don’t use the original tracks, It’s hit or miss for me. I thought the battle theme during the second mako reactor bombing sounded awfully stale and generic. Then again, they modified a battle theme later in the game to sound more.. bombastic than it originally was, which I don’t mind.
I thought that was Zack, as well. I wonder how long we’ll have to wait for part 2. I have to say, I love the increase in combat difficulty in this game. Cloud is probably your safest bet as leader, but I’m running with Tifa for quick battles. With her speed/ATB gauge boosts, she can make quick work of most non-boss mobs, either through dishing out heavy physical damage or forcing them into pressured/staggered state.
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Re: The Official Final Fantasy thread
So far I've been switching a lot during fights, and boss fights in particular. For small fights I usually control cloud. For bosses with Cloud, Tifa, and Barrett I'm constantly switching depending on the moment. Probably more Tifa and Barrett than Cloud.
Tifa is my main physical damage dealer so I'm using her against bosses mostly. Using Chakra to keep her alive while fast charging the ATB to keep Unbridled Strength high. Switching to Barrett for quickly charging his ATB to use healing spells/Lifesaver, or Focus Shot and Overcharge. Cloud is pretty hard to kill so I let him be by himself more, and switch to him when I need more magic damage since I have him with Fira, Thundara and Blizzara.
Tifa is my main physical damage dealer so I'm using her against bosses mostly. Using Chakra to keep her alive while fast charging the ATB to keep Unbridled Strength high. Switching to Barrett for quickly charging his ATB to use healing spells/Lifesaver, or Focus Shot and Overcharge. Cloud is pretty hard to kill so I let him be by himself more, and switch to him when I need more magic damage since I have him with Fira, Thundara and Blizzara.
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Re: The Official Final Fantasy thread
rincon wrote:
- Spoiler:
i thought the bomb wasnt a dud, just that it wasnt supposed to be so absurdly big as to destroy the surrounding sector. Then ShinRa kind of cut their losses by self destructing the whole thing to get the city on their side and against Avalanche.
That was my interpretation, them using the incident as a tool to their advantage with regards to Midgar. Avalanche comes out as even more extremist mercenaries and ShinRa comes out as saviors.
Cant remember what the specifics were with the bomb in the original
- 2nd reactor mission:
- At the end of this mission it was revealed that Shinra is propping up Avalanche to start another war, so I guess that answers my question
rincon wrote:I'm only have just joined Aerith, going back to Sector 7.
I think you guys are further ahead right? @thimmy @BarrileteCosmico
I'm currently going back to sector 7 too, expect to make slow progress now that my long weekend is done
rincon wrote:@thimmy @BC
- spoilers up to the start of Ch8:
When Cloud fell through the church and got "woken up" by someone in his mind, I thought that it was Zack at first and got hyped to see him again (favorite FF7 by far). Then it got weirder by seeing that it was Cloud himself saying something like "I got by with only a few bruises last time".
Between this, Sephiroth's visions, and the specters things are gonna get weird. Hyped to see where this goes.
Same about Zach, wonder where this is all going. I will say it's a rather bold move by Square Enix to reimagine this stuff rather than stick to the original closely.
As for the "this feels like a more modern FF game" thoughts, I can't comment as the last FF game I played was on the PS2 but it does feel very much like FF7 to me. I think they did a phenomenal job selling Midgar as a place where people live, actions have consequences, and each sector feels different enough. They also get a lot of the "campiness" right. Even the character models feel quite true to the original (ie cartoonish), even though I would've preferred them to go for a more realistic approach like in Advent Children.
Also agreed with rincon that FFIX was the GOAT
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Re: The Official Final Fantasy thread
Was just talking to my brother who is right before the Reactor 5 mission. He had only played a little bit of FF7, only Midgar and that was a long time ago so he doesn't remember much, just the Aerith spoilers that everyone knows.
He says he hasn't been this invested in a group of characters and story since his first play through of FFX. Loving it so far.
Wish I could go in that blind without already knowing the story.
He says he hasn't been this invested in a group of characters and story since his first play through of FFX. Loving it so far.
Wish I could go in that blind without already knowing the story.
- OG FF7 spoilers:
- The plate falling has to hit extra hard for new players in this game since you bond with Avalanche members a lot more.
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Re: The Official Final Fantasy thread
Yeah honestly I find that even for myself I'm very fuzzy on a lot of the details. I remember the broad strokes of the story but often wonder "was that the way it was in the OG story? can't remember"
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Re: The Official Final Fantasy thread
Beating that house took me forever, Cloud was a useless pos
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Re: The Official Final Fantasy thread
BarrileteCosmico wrote:Beating that house took me forever, Cloud was a useless pos
Yeah, you need to use a lot of magic for that fight. Cloud is only useful for dodging, running in circles and being a decoy
Now that I’m nearing the end of the game, I like it more than I did initially. I may not be as big of a fan as you two seem to be, I’m quite picky, but it’s a very good game. I especially appreciate how they’ve modified the weapon and materia systems.
Even typically assumed weaker weapons can be useful now, as it’s all a matter of play style, and weapons you may have left to collect dust sometimes become useful again as your character levels up and all weapons receive new weapon spheres. Good examples of this are Cloud’s last weapon and Tifa’s early weapon, Iron Fist, which has insane physical damage at any point in the game, but at the expense of magic damage.
- Spoiler:
- Cloud’s Mythril Saber, on the other hand, has low physical damage, but high magical damage that comes with a skill that deals non-elemental, magic damage. It may seem counter-productive at first, but the skill, Blade Burst packs a punch and makes it far easier to deal with mobs that are weak to magic - as you don’t have to worry about their particular elemental weakness. It would’ve been a pretty cool addition if you could switch weapons during fights.
Materia has become a lot more complex, as it matters whether you place them in the weapon or armor slots, and there are tons of combinations that allow for more strategy.
Final Fantasy 7R is a very good game. It doesn’t quite capture the essence of the original game, in my opinion - not to the extent that I would’ve desired from a more purist point of view anyway, but it doesn’t seem like that was Nomura’s intention. It’s a re-imagination of the original game, and for what it is, it’s very good. It does have a fair share of minor flaws, and I found the pacing a bit frustrating at times, but it also surprised me how polished the game feels. It’s definitely an ambitious game, and I’m pretty excited to find out what happens next.
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Re: The Official Final Fantasy thread
I wish the overall experience of this game had been more condensed. It does drag on at times. The last few hours of it are epic, though. Cut out all of the shitty sidequests, arbitrary movement restrictions and issues with pacing, and this would be so much better.
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Re: The Official Final Fantasy thread
my copy just arrived a week after it should have been delivered smh
hyped
hyped
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Re: The Official Final Fantasy thread
Its a terrible remake, nostalgia aside its a very shallow game that depends a lot on its nostalgia factor, the complete opposite of Capcom's recent RE remakes. God, i hate Squeenix so much.
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Re: The Official Final Fantasy thread
How many hours or minutes of the game did you play before you decided it was shit, ES?
I ask, because I was initially sceptical, the game looked good and the combat was alright, but unlike Rincon and BC I wasn’t overly convinced. The game is pretty long. 40+ hours. It only gets better as you play through it. The combat gets better, the story becomes more focused, and my overall impression of the game has kmproved substantially. FF7R occasionally reminds menof the DLC for FF15. They were a lot better than the base game, but they still felt like the newer games in the series. I think FF7R starts off quite slow, but it left me with a good impression. I’m actually excited to play the next game.
I ask, because I was initially sceptical, the game looked good and the combat was alright, but unlike Rincon and BC I wasn’t overly convinced. The game is pretty long. 40+ hours. It only gets better as you play through it. The combat gets better, the story becomes more focused, and my overall impression of the game has kmproved substantially. FF7R occasionally reminds menof the DLC for FF15. They were a lot better than the base game, but they still felt like the newer games in the series. I think FF7R starts off quite slow, but it left me with a good impression. I’m actually excited to play the next game.
Last edited by Thimmy on Thu Apr 16, 2020 3:18 pm; edited 10 times in total
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Re: The Official Final Fantasy thread
Finished it
Kaladin- Stormblessed
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Re: The Official Final Fantasy thread
Alright then. Different strokes. I can agree that parts of the game are shallow. The pacing frustrated me at times, and again, I wish the whole experience was more condensed.
There’s just no way I can agree that the game is terrible, though. If it was terrible, I would’ve likely given up on it before an hour had passed, and we both spent at least 40 hours on this. I would have preferred a remake, but we can’t have both. For what it is, it exceeded my expectations.
This 8/10 review from Metacritic is pretty much spot on in it’s assessment of the game’s strong and weak points. The ending will definitely leave purists with a bad taste in their mouth, but the game does many things well, leading up to that point.
There’s just no way I can agree that the game is terrible, though. If it was terrible, I would’ve likely given up on it before an hour had passed, and we both spent at least 40 hours on this. I would have preferred a remake, but we can’t have both. For what it is, it exceeded my expectations.
This 8/10 review from Metacritic is pretty much spot on in it’s assessment of the game’s strong and weak points. The ending will definitely leave purists with a bad taste in their mouth, but the game does many things well, leading up to that point.
- Spoiler:
- FF7 Remake had the unenviable task of following a gaming juggernaught, needing to both appease the fans of the original whilst giving the same service to modern gaming sensibilities. Square Enix is a shadow of what Squaresoft where back in the 90s, when FF6, FF7, Chrono Trigger and so on where being churned out - legendary game after legendary game. So hopes were not high for me, especially after the somewhat disappointing FF15.
But here we are with the remake. Is it as good as the original? No. In many ways it doesn't even come close to it.
But is it better than any reasonable person could have hoped for? Absolutely yes.
I'll start with my complaints. First, this really didn't need to be episodic. The padding is borderline criminal - particularly the numerous pointless side quests - just to expand the Midgar section into a 'full' game. Midgar in the original was actually just a few hours long; it just felt longer because of teh quality and depth of content that was crammed into that location. Remake simultaneously fleshes out the world of Midgar but makes it much more shallow feeling at the same time.
That said, you don't really have to worry about avoiding spoilers for the next few years until the next part, because this isn't a straight up rehash of the original. Instead, the story - initially following the original beat for beat - goes off on a mad tangent towards the end, and honestly I feel this is to the detriment of the game. It feels like they were in a desperate rush to introduce certain characters. The story also lends itself to another issue the game has - extreme linearity. Not as bad as FF13 with the endless corridors, but not far off from it either, because the game wants to hit story notes one after the other and therefore has little time to allow the player some individual expression.
They are flaws - and big ones - but it would be remiss of me not to now focus on the positives, of which there are many more. The combat system - my biggest fear of all going in - is beautifully done. The incorporation of materia into a live battle system has been majestically done. I thought I'd miss ATB in Remake and it would sour the game for me; remarkably it hasn't. The characters are spot on - again, my fear was they'd be diluted and taken too seriously, but no; the comedic element is there, the voices (for the most part) are perfectly fitting and the expansion of the side character development here is a definite improvement over the original. Graphically, this is absolutely gorgeous - Midgar feels alive, the characters are animated wonderfully - it is in every way the world you imagined in your minds' eye when playing the original with those blocky little characters. The anticipation to see Cosmo Canyon etc. in the next episode for me now is HUGE!
I have long felt that the soundtrack for Final Fantasy 7 was the most beautiful, complete, awe-inspiring soundtrack in gaming history - one that tells a story in its' own right. The remake reaffirms that view for me - it is glorious. Yet... for me, not quite as impactful as the originals. I think the music is too... smooth? It's hard to explain, but I think the lower quality "abrupt" notes from the original left more of an impression, especially in the flow of the game in Remake and when the sound effects in battle seem to drown out the battle theme.
Overall, despite my fears about it going in, FF7 Remake is an easy recommendation to make. At least for me. I feel that a lot of your enjoyment of it is going to depend on your expectations going in. If you're a FF7 veteran, try and bare in mind that this isn't a replacement for the original; it's a reimagining of it. The original still exists for you. It was never going to be as good as the original for you.
But for those new to the game or even the franchise? Here's your perfect jumping in point. Enjoy!
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Re: The Official Final Fantasy thread
Progress update: I'm now about 27 hours in and (I'm assuming) I'm about to enter the end-game and climb to the surface.
Unlike Thimmy, my opinion of the game has gone down over the last 10 or so hours of gameplay. It feels like nearly all of the new content is fluff. Like for instance I just completed the 1 hour detour into the labs below Sector 7and all we really learned from that is that Shinra experiented on humans, which comes up later anyways so what was the point? Like that there are many instances where simple things take a lot longer than they ought to, seemingly just to make the game longer. I wish this energy would've been spent developing the characters and setting more. I liked the Jessie side-mission because it gave us more insights into Jessie, Biggs & Wedge. Wouldn't have minded more of that and less fluff.
Still the positive far outweighs the negative for me, and the game apparently ends strong and there's a big twist coming up that all the reviewers mentioned so looking forward to that.
Unlike Thimmy, my opinion of the game has gone down over the last 10 or so hours of gameplay. It feels like nearly all of the new content is fluff. Like for instance I just completed the 1 hour detour into the labs below Sector 7and all we really learned from that is that Shinra experiented on humans, which comes up later anyways so what was the point? Like that there are many instances where simple things take a lot longer than they ought to, seemingly just to make the game longer. I wish this energy would've been spent developing the characters and setting more. I liked the Jessie side-mission because it gave us more insights into Jessie, Biggs & Wedge. Wouldn't have minded more of that and less fluff.
Still the positive far outweighs the negative for me, and the game apparently ends strong and there's a big twist coming up that all the reviewers mentioned so looking forward to that.
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Re: The Official Final Fantasy thread
I didn't mean to say that my impression improved as I progressed and experienced more of the game, but being able to look back at a larger portion of the game, gave me a different, more positive retro-perspective than I had initially. I definitely agree when it comes to criticism towards the padding, or "fluff" as you call it, but you and Rincon seemed to have quite positive impressions, quite early on. I wasn't immediately impressed by the game, myself. It looked great visually, but certain things just reminded me of the tragic mess that was FF15. I appreciate that they took the opportunity to flesh out the characters more, that seemed like the obvious thing to do since it's episodic. but I think it's to the detriment of the overall quality of the game that there's so little focus on the things that move the story on.
The needlessly drawn out parts were there all along, and there were more things that didn't appeal to me, along the way. But like you say, the positives far outweigh the negatives, and I didn't realize that until I'd gotten quite far along in the story. I really liked how they tackled the Shinra Building part of the game, for the most part.
The needlessly drawn out parts were there all along, and there were more things that didn't appeal to me, along the way. But like you say, the positives far outweigh the negatives, and I didn't realize that until I'd gotten quite far along in the story. I really liked how they tackled the Shinra Building part of the game, for the most part.
- Spoiler:
- Although, it did confuse and annoy me a little bit, that they didn't include the part where Sepiroth massacres everyone inside of it. I suppose it does make sense when you consider the altered ending, though.
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Re: The Official Final Fantasy thread
Absolutely loving it. Couldn't play all week because of work but got back into it today. 30 hours in just finished Chapter 12. The level of immersion and character work just makes this chapter so much better. Really loving this game.
- Spoiler:
- the climb up the pillar, playing with Aerith on the ground, and finally the Reno and Rude fight. Incredible boss fight. The combat is probably my favorite in any game in memory, as a turn base fan this won me over. I like how much harder it is as well. That boss fight was perfect.
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Re: The Official Final Fantasy thread
Yeah the combat system gets big props from me too. It feels both new and classic at the same time, which I think is a tough line to walk in but they pulled it off great. The weapons upgrade system is great too, instead of discarding old weapons each one keeps adding new depth to it.
Progress update: I thought I was about to enter the end-game, but instead chapter 14 was a bunch of sidequests, that I just finished. About to climb the wall at last.
Progress update: I thought I was about to enter the end-game, but instead chapter 14 was a bunch of sidequests, that I just finished. About to climb the wall at last.
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Re: The Official Final Fantasy thread
If you are wondering whether it’s best to take the stairs, the elevator, or the escalator in the Shinra building, they’re all completely optional. I wouldn’t recommend taking the stairs, though
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Re: The Official Final Fantasy thread
Finished the game yesterday. It ended very strongly, it was hard to put down from the moment you start climbing the wall to Shinra's HQ. They got a ton of things right, and the few things that they didn't are very easy to forgive (mostly the dragging in the middle chapters). It made me feel like a kid again while also being able to making it feel challenging enough and new. I loved the atmosphere of Midgar, and how they made it feel like a lived-in world where your actions have consequences. They pulled off the weapons, materia, and combat system great and created memorable boss fights. I like how they didn't stick to the script and tried to reimagine the game rather than remake it. Sometimes they got it right and sometimes wrong, but I think that's a decision that took guts as the fanbase could have easily hated the changes, but it paid off (for now at least). 9/10
Thoughts on the last 3rd
Thoughts about the ending and story changes
Other than specific thoughts on the ending, my main complaint with the game is that the sidequests in the middle section felt diverged from the story. While it was great to see the Midgar world expanded, it would've been better to use them as a chance to flesh out Tifa and Barett more, as they did with Aerith, Wedge, Biggs & Jessie. That would've improved the middle section significantly.
Now that I wrote all that I think I'm coming off as far too negative, so just wanted to reiterate that I hugely enjoyed this and think it's a fantastic game. Just had more to say about the things I didn't like than those that I did, I guess. Excited to see where it goes from here, hopefully they don't keep us waiting 5 more years for the next installment. Might give it a shot in hard mode at some point, I thought I did every sidequest I could but it turns out I missed a lot of stuff.
Thoughts on the last 3rd
- Spoiler:
- -It was very hard to put the game down from the moment you start climbing the wall and the gradual build up over the entire climb to the 69th floor
-Loved to see the Shinra building expanded, even little things like Cloud attacking an accountant on the elevator or the Big Energy corporate messaging that rang very true to the kind of messaging that a Fortune 500 company these days would use. Generally I think they nailed the Shinra building, up until Hojo's lab.
-I thought Red XIII had a great introduction and felt like his own character straight away, also liked how they implemented him as part of the gameplay and combat. Generally, I also liked how they did character switching rather than the typical "we're too many and will get noticed, let's split up" of past games
-I'm of mixed feelings when it comes to Hojo's lab. On the one hand, its was very creepy and that was great to play through. It had some interesting playing dynamics, and it felt epic in scope which is always welcome. On the other, it was far too vast to believably be part of the building, it felt like they were trying to copy the Nibelheim reactor and put it in the middle of the Shinra building. But with that quibble aside I thought it was very well done.
-That said, I'm a little disappointed with the last floors. I think they got the mood of this part wrong. Not to sound like a purist, but in the original the characters get caught and then wake up to find that everyone is dead and there's blood all over the floor. In this one it's obvious who did it (Sephiroth, who was teased too much throughout the game) so there's no suspense. They also chose to show a purple something instead of blood, making it lose some of that horror feeling the original one had.
-And we found the Shinra president alive, and Barret saves him (this annoyed me a lot, the guy doesn't care about killing tons of innocent people in his bombings but suddenly saves the big bad?), and then Sephiroth kills him in front of our eyes and they fake-kill Barret. This was definitely a mistake.
-I also think a break to decompress would've been nice at this point (like the jail provided), because up ahead we have 5 boss fights, each very long, and a bike chase/fight. It was a bit exhausting.
-The Sephiroth clone boss fight was great, when I heard the Jenova theme I got goosebumps, and it felt exactly like what the later Sephiroth clone battles should feel like.
-The music generally for this part of the story was fantastic.
-Really enjoyed the Shinra Junior fight too
-The big mech fight with Aerith and Barret, not so much, the tank was near indestructible and I was already starting to get boss fight fatigue.
-The bike chase was well done (as was the other one), also feeling true to the original
Thoughts about the ending and story changes
- Spoiler:
- Gameplay:
-Challenging Fate itself felt like it came out of nowhere and was overkill for what was only supposed to be the end of first chapter of a 3 or 4 game series.
-The whispers boss had far too many stages and left me exhausted even before playing Sephiroth, who also had another 3 or 4 stages on his own. I lost one time when Sephiroth was doing the meteor countdown (a bit early, don't you think?) and I hit 'start from the very beginning' by mistake. I got sent back to before we entered the portal and almost rage quit.
-The boss fights were both properly epic, and while long, left you feeling accomplished by the end. Beating the solo stage of Sephiroth took me a few tries while I learned how to counter each of his moves.
Story implications:
-As I mentioned before, my initial reaction was that this was too epic, too end-game for this stage in the story. I expected to get out of Midgar and be done with it and suddenly we are fighting Fate. While I went along with it, it was confusing
-I did some reading after beating the game and now I think I have a better grasp on the changes. I liked this write up, which changed my mind on it.
-So, as I understand it: The whispers ensure that fate keeps to it's supposed path. The supposed path (the one that we see in the flash-forwards) is that of FF7 Original. That also explains why the whispers sometimes helped and sometimes fought you, when characters took actions that deviated from the original game the whispers ensured that the original path was taken (reviving Barrett or ensuring that cloud goes on the Reactor 5 mission). By killing the whispers, Cloud & Co ensure that fate can change. This has several implications of it's own:
1. Future games are no longer tied to the story of the original FF7. Aerith might survive. Red might not get his happy ending.
2. Past events may or may not have happened. It's clear that Zach survived the ambush outside Midgar. Did this happen on this timeline (will the past be retconned?) or are we dealing with different timelines?
3. Sephiroth has already lived though the events of FF7 and is trying to change events in the past by getting rid of Fate. In this, it seems that Cloud & Co accomplished his goal for him. Sidenote: Why was Aerith so insistent that we face him? Wouldn't the predetermined FF7 path be something that she wants?
4. Aerith also has a wealth of information that she shouldn't have at this stage. It's possible that lifestream Aerith from the future is talking to her current incarnation through the planet (similar to how Sephiroth is influencing his past self), but this is rapidly becoming very convoluted (as most time travel stories do).
5. Since this story will now be the story of Sephiroth trying to change the past, it no longer feels like a remake, and more like a sequel. This is exciting to fans of the original series like myself. The next game will keep us on our toes, guessing at what twists could happen that we don't expect, and that will make it more interesting for fans of the original (purists excluded). It also makes me scared that they will royally screw it up (in spite of acing this game).
6. It also means that a new generation of people won't be introduced to the FF7 we knew, and that's a bit sad too.
-Lastly, just wanted to say that as a story telling mechanism I found the whispers to be too convoluted. There could have been better ways to show how fate interacts in people's lives that were less distracting. There's also some things I still don't understand, like why did Aerith say that every time they touched her she felt a little less like herself
Other than specific thoughts on the ending, my main complaint with the game is that the sidequests in the middle section felt diverged from the story. While it was great to see the Midgar world expanded, it would've been better to use them as a chance to flesh out Tifa and Barett more, as they did with Aerith, Wedge, Biggs & Jessie. That would've improved the middle section significantly.
Now that I wrote all that I think I'm coming off as far too negative, so just wanted to reiterate that I hugely enjoyed this and think it's a fantastic game. Just had more to say about the things I didn't like than those that I did, I guess. Excited to see where it goes from here, hopefully they don't keep us waiting 5 more years for the next installment. Might give it a shot in hard mode at some point, I thought I did every sidequest I could but it turns out I missed a lot of stuff.
BarrileteCosmico- Admin
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Re: The Official Final Fantasy thread
BarrileteCosmico wrote:Finished the game yesterday. It ended very strongly, it was hard to put down from the moment you start climbing the wall to Shinra's HQ. They got a ton of things right, and the few things that they didn't are very easy to forgive (mostly the dragging in the middle chapters). It made me feel like a kid again while also being able to making it feel challenging enough and new. I loved the atmosphere of Midgar, and how they made it feel like a lived-in world where your actions have consequences. They pulled off the weapons, materia, and combat system great and created memorable boss fights. I like how they didn't stick to the script and tried to reimagine the game rather than remake it. Sometimes they got it right and sometimes wrong, but I think that's a decision that took guts as the fanbase could have easily hated the changes, but it paid off (for now at least). 9/10
Same thoughts.
I'm at Shinra HQ towards the end of chapter 16 with ~45 hours so far. I really want to go and finish it and at the same time I don't want it to end. The HQ is awesome, really cool take on this part of the game so far.
I'm enjoying the combat so much that I'm doing all the 4 star battle sim stuff before moving on, even if I really want to see the story. Playing around with the weapon upgrade and materia setups is really good.
- chapter 16 spoilers:
- The movie in the cosmos theater in HQ was beautiful. Makes me really excited to leave Midgar in the next games. I can imagine an expanded view of the ancients this time around. I had mentioned in another post how the dark dystopian city environment isn't my favorite, seeing parts of the world in this new style/graphics hyped me up.
rincon- World Class Contributor
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Re: The Official Final Fantasy thread
I appreciate the dark, dystopian environment when it serves as a contrast to other parts of the game. Like BC pointed out, I missed the brutal part that occurs in the Shinra building in the original, for instance. They seem to have opted for a generally more cheerful and uplifting atmosphere in the remake, so I suppose they succeeded in appealing to your tastes in that respect at least.
Agreed that the movie you refer to looked absolutely gorgeous, but that’s clearly pre-rendered and I highly doubt the outside environment will look that clean and crisp.
Agreed that the movie you refer to looked absolutely gorgeous, but that’s clearly pre-rendered and I highly doubt the outside environment will look that clean and crisp.
Thimmy- World Class Contributor
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Re: The Official Final Fantasy thread
finished it like 2 days ago
very much enjoyed it, after FFXV this is what I consider my first real FF, very pleased, XV left me super cautious, I did skip a lot of late side stuff, clocked it at 10 mins shy of 40 hours.
some stuff went over my head, read up on it afterwards, somehow I'd remained mostly unspoiled all of these years on 7 or had just forgotten (watched Advent Children as a kid) most that I did know
combat was super fun, mildly challenging which is a blessing after XV
good pacing, likable characters, fun boss fights, anime tropes out the ass, what's not to like? looking forward to the sequel
oh, and shout out to the slums, obviously they aren't huge towns but they felt a good size and that was such a big complaint of mine in 15
Wall Market is great. Thinking of playing 10 after Nier Automata.
very much enjoyed it, after FFXV this is what I consider my first real FF, very pleased, XV left me super cautious, I did skip a lot of late side stuff, clocked it at 10 mins shy of 40 hours.
some stuff went over my head, read up on it afterwards, somehow I'd remained mostly unspoiled all of these years on 7 or had just forgotten (watched Advent Children as a kid) most that I did know
combat was super fun, mildly challenging which is a blessing after XV
good pacing, likable characters, fun boss fights, anime tropes out the ass, what's not to like? looking forward to the sequel
oh, and shout out to the slums, obviously they aren't huge towns but they felt a good size and that was such a big complaint of mine in 15
Wall Market is great. Thinking of playing 10 after Nier Automata.
Firenze- the Bloody-Nine
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