Final Fantasy 7 remake part 1 (spoilers) and part 2 updates

[Vertigo 7]

I dunno how many of you folks are stoked for this release. I am. I loved the FF7 story and the visuals and music, for it's time, was pretty damn epic to me. So when the remake was announced, given SE's more recent willingness to branch out beyond Sony, the question of "will the remake hit other platforms or not?" was tossed around for months with no clear answer until sometime around June when SE said it was a PS4 exclusive. Wellll, that wasn't exactly honest. Much like the launch of Destiny, the FF7 remake is a timed exclusive for the PS4 until March of 2021, where it will hit for Xbox and PC. That's a long wait to hold out for it... I can't decide now if I have buyers remorse for the PS4 or not, but I did splurge on the ultra dumb collectors edition of the game... Still, so excited for this game! I love what I've seen of it so far and can't wait to dig in!

[Golden_Gonads]

I was never a great fan of the original... Still, I'll eventually pick it up eventually on PC when it's all released - They've split the game into an unknown number of 'episodes', and only the first one will be out next year (for PS4). The first episode will be my least favourite part of the game - Midgar, and worse than that, they've expanded to original content... So it now takes even longer to get out into the main game (not that you will at the end, as that'll be in the next episode (I assume)). I also wasn't a fan of the action-RPG style combat they've been showing off, though apparently there's a hybrid menu-combat option in there that vaguely resembles the original.

[brucewarren]

Would I be considered a heretic if I confessed to preferring 8 over 7?

[Golden_Gonads]

Would I be considered a heretic if I confessed to preferring 8 over 7?

You'd be matching my opinion... So yes. Yes you would.

[Ronald Sandoval]

god you will have to go through the death of aeris all over again in HD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3J7zZ6K20g

[Vertigo 7]

god you will have to go through the death of aeris all over again in HD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3J7zZ6K20g

Yeah, not just that, but voice acted as well... imma be pissed if they don't do this justice.

In the original, I didn't see that coming at all and when it happened I literally stopped playing it for a week. From then on, my mission was nothing more than revenge and wupping Sephiroth's ass was soooooo sweet

[pjknibbs]

I tried playing FF7 on PC (yes, there was a PC version) back in the day, never really got into it. Not the game's fault, I just generally have a problem getting into JRPGs--I think mainly because they tend to be quite obscure about how levelling up improves your capabilities. I might give the remake a try when it hits PC to see if it works better for that than the original, because, as I understand it, it isn't just a remake with better graphics tacked on top of the same old mechanics, but a ground-up rework.

[Vertigo 7]

I tried playing FF7 on PC (yes, there was a PC version) back in the day, never really got into it. Not the game's fault, I just generally have a problem getting into JRPGs--I think mainly because they tend to be quite obscure about how levelling up improves your capabilities. I might give the remake a try when it hits PC to see if it works better for that than the original, because, as I understand it, it isn't just a remake with better graphics tacked on top of the same old mechanics, but a ground-up rework.

oh yeah, it's a massive reworking. new combat system, voice acting, reworked story, it's a hybrid reboot/remake.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19gOCrueAkk The demo got leaked and there's game play through the reactor bombing mission.

[Ronald Sandoval]

nice demo i really enjoyed watching that

[brucewarren]

Very nice artwork and character models in that video.

Unfortunately the increase in definition highlights something that I didn't pay much attention to in the original.

Cloud's sword. With the far more realistic art style it becomes more obvious that he shouldn't be able to even lift that thing
let alone swing it around like a pro.

[pjknibbs]

Depends what it's made of. Clearly if it's metal then it'll be far too heavy to use, but there are other materials that might be used, especially since FF7 is set in a world where high tech stuff exists.

[Vertigo 7]

There's also no telling what kind of "super soldier" experiments that Shinra put their elites through. I mean, Sephiroth was created from Jenova (alien) cells. And that one creeper dude tried to get Red to knock up Aeris.

[Vertigo 7]

oh nice. SE dropped the demo on the PSN store yesterday. https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/2/21160 ... o-released

Go play it yourself! I'm downloading it now =D

[Stars_InTheirEyes]

I was apprehensive about how they'd handle the combat but having played the demo I think they've absolutely NAILED it.
The old JRPG system had your party of up to 3 be static and wait for their ATB guage to fill for you to issue commands to them (Attack/Magic/Summon/Item). What they've done in the remake is retain the ATB guage and commands but in the meantime you control a character's movement, perform basic attacks, dodge and guard. You can switch between characters instantly and issue their commands as their ATB fills. While you control one character, the others have AI and will guard and perform basic attacks on their own. Its down to the player to keep an eye on the ATB guages and issue commands. Guarding and attacking will also cause a character's ATB guage to fill quicker so the better the player plays in real-time, the more ATB commands they can issue.
Its equally innovative and traditional, a superb mix of real-time action and a kind of turn-based system straight from the original game. I played on normal difficulty and it was pretty challenging but I do find myself hoping for a hard mode at release.

I've seen some comments about how the dodge needs to be longer because they were still getting hit. I think these people are missing how this combat works and expect it to be like other popular RPGs. It is NOT like Dark Souls - where you dodge to acoid all damage or get hit, and can only take a few hits before death. In this you are supposed to take damage because you have a party of 3 and restoring damage taken is a big part of the strategy. From my experience in the demo, Guarding is much better than trying to dodge. Cloud also has an alternate stance where he auto counters melee attacks when guarding.

Obviously its just the demo so there's a lot left to see, and a lot they still need to get right, but the early signs are very encouraging. The combat system has a ton of potential. How they handle the later game intricacies with materia linking, summons and whatnot while making fights challenging could make turn it into an incredible game. Its what FF15's combat should have been, in some ways.

Very nice artwork and character models in that video.

Unfortunately the increase in definition highlights something that I didn't pay much attention to in the original.

Cloud's sword. With the far more realistic art style it becomes more obvious that he shouldn't be able to even lift that thing
let alone swing it around like a pro.

He shouldn't be able to shoot fireballs and lightning out of his hands either... Its a fantasy game -- realism takes a back seat.

[Vertigo 7]

oh you're very right. I'm so excited for the full game release!

I think there's a lot of potential as well for the combat system, especially once you get a full party. I was dinking around in the menu looking for some hint as to what the materia system would look like. I didn't find much but I thought it was interesting they chose to use the term "Learned spells", makes me wonder if your access to spells is not going to be based on equipped materia, i didn't even see anything that hinted at materia slots, but rather absorbing knowledge of magic from materia instead.

It would make sense to me since there are several materia in the original that probably wouldn't translate over well in the remake like the one that lets you attack from any range, or even counter attack, since that seems to be just a simple combat move for the remake.

But the launch is just a month and a few days away so we shall see!

[brucewarren]

He shouldn't be able to shoot fireballs and lightning out of his hands either... Its a fantasy game -- realism takes a back seat.

<Checks hands>
You mean it's not normal for flames to come out of my fingers when I get upset?
<Goes off to see make appointment with GP>

You're right of course. Impractical weapons are not unheard of in fantasy. I thought they might have taken the opportunity
to tone it down just a little but perhaps it was deemed too iconic to do that.

But the launch is just a month and a few days away so we shall see!

Be a while longer for PC

[Vertigo 7]

Sephiroth's sword is like 3 times his body length. Okay, maybe not that long, but still, it's exceedingly long to be feasible to use in real combat =p

Anime, what can ya do?

[Vertigo 7]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCAJADlLg9g

Here's a "behind the scenes" video from the devs on how they designed Midgar and the combat system and music, etc. Turn on CC to see the subtitles, but it's a good watch. You get to see a lot of the ambiance and atmosphere of the game's first part.

[Vertigo 7]

we're less than 2 weeks away from launch! I gotta say, I haven't been this excited for a game launch ever. I've got time off work scheduled. I've got pizza rolls in the freezer. I'm ready!

I've been doing some digging around into the info SE has released on the game play mechanics. One thing I missed back in like November or so, each equipable item has a materia core that can be upgraded as you fight things to enhance stats and upgrade character abilities. I find that really interesting because I wonder how much utility that will add to base weapons and if that includes the ability to add materia slots. Just for pure cosmetic reasons, if the iconic Buster Sword would be feasible to use through endgame. I know there are other weapons, we've seen at least 2 others of Clouds and the Atomic Scissors of Barret.

Also, it wasn't clear to me before, but now is, that all summons persist for their time limit on the battle field. I know they showed off Ifrit and the DLC summons, but it was only ever a short snip of like Leviathan or Shiva performing their ultimate abilities. I'm really curious how that's gonna play out for the variations of Bahamut or even Knights of the Round. Though, I wouldn't be surprised at all if those 2 specific summons don't make it into the first episode given how late in the game those were acquired in the original. But it's always possible, I mean... in the original, you didn't gain access to any summons before leaving Midgar.

The other thing I'm curious about is if they're going to allow importing of saves from the first episode to the 2nd episode, so your character progress can carry over. I'm a little mixed on that. There is going to be "end game" for the first part, which I'm sure will incorporate a lot of grinding and leveling etc. and no word on New Game+. Unless they impose a cap, say overall the max level is 99, but for the first part the max level is 30 or whatever, I'm not sure that I would want to import a level 99 cloud into part 2 and be so OP that it's boring to play. On the other hand, any progress I've made with leveling materia and what not, I definitely don't wanna toss that down the drain =p

Either way, I'm quite sure I'm gonna enjoy the hell out of this. I'm most definitely going to get my monies worth out of it!

[Stars_InTheirEyes]

Its brilliant. I love it.