Putting the 'role' back in role-playing games since 2002.
Donate to Codex
Good Old Games
  • Welcome to rpgcodex.net, a site dedicated to discussing computer based role-playing games in a free and open fashion. We're less strict than other forums, but please refer to the rules.

    "This message is awaiting moderator approval": All new users must pass through our moderation queue before they will be able to post normally. Until your account has "passed" your posts will only be visible to yourself (and moderators) until they are approved. Give us a week to get around to approving / deleting / ignoring your mundane opinion on crap before hassling us about it. Once you have passed the moderation period (think of it as a test), you will be able to post normally, just like all the other retards.

Squeenix Final Fantasy VII Remake Integrade - now on Steam

Jinn

Arcane
Joined
Nov 8, 2007
Messages
4,930
That looked awesome.

Never thought I would, but I have to agree. Was totally cynical about this until I saw the gameplay footage. Those boss battles look amazing, and I'm fine with the action RPG combat mixed with the ATB/Tactical Mode. If they actually make it challenging, or offer a "Hard" mode, I could see it really turning into something great.

Though... it is Nomura.
 
Last edited:

HanoverF

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Nov 23, 2002
Messages
6,083
MCA Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Codex USB, 2014 Divinity: Original Sin 2
Good thing they got rid of slow turn based combat so you can plink away at a boss in realtime for 30 minutes.
 

Shaewaroz

Arcane
Patron
Joined
May 4, 2013
Messages
2,923
Location
In a hobo shack due to betting on neanderthal
I'm very into cock and ball torture
Here are my initial thoughts after seeing the Final Fantasy VII Remake E3 Presentation. Brace yourselves, it's going to be one hell of a long post.

A short intro to my personal relationship with FF7. It was NOT my first JRPG, but perhaps the first ones that really impacted me in a very profound way. I've played the game through more than 10 times and can basically site every line of dialogue and tell every item placement in the game etc. However I've already made peace with the fact that FF7 Remake is most likely not going to be everything I'd like it to be. So I'd just like it to be a fun and engaging game in it's own right. I'd love the story and characters to retain their original spirit, but I don't mind some changes if they serve a purpose in telling a compelling story.

With that out of the way, let's get into the E3 Presentation. I mark positive observations with a + and negative ones with a -.


COMBAT

+ I actually like how they have redesigned the combat. ATB fills gradually and you can do basic attacks while waiting for it to fill. Once ATB is full, you can Pause the game to enter Tactical Mode and issue commands at your own pace. They have also implemented Materia, although it's unclear to which extent. Limit Breaks are also there, although they work differently.
+ The fact that environment plays a role in combat doesn't bother me - it might even be Incline if done in a creative way.
+ You have to Dodge and Block incoming attacks in real-time. This is definitely a welcome feature.
+ HP & MP are intact. Spells require ATB bar to be full and enough MP to cast. The characters seem to have way more HP than in the original though - maybe because both you and enemies are attacking at a much faster phase than in the original.
+ Cloud's Braver Limit Break seems to be AOE attacks now rather than a Single Target attack. This actually might bring some neat tactical elements to the combat - lure enemies together in order to smash all of them at once with a Limit Break.
+ Guard Scorpion boss battle had multiple stages and the enemy had multiple body parts. Guard Scorpion was weak to Lightning, which is true to the original design. It all looks great, tbh.
+ There are timers both during exploration and during boss fights. This is also true to the original, although they have clearly takes some creative liberties. I'm not against that at all - it will probably stress the feeling of urgency in some key moment.
+ There seems to be a clear trend of alternating between enemies that can be attacked with Melee attacks and enemies that can only be reached with Ranged Weapons. This seems to indicate it's an essential part of the core gameplay loop to alternate between melee fighters like Cloud/Tifa/Red XIII to deal maximum damage close range and switching to Barret/Vincent/Yuffie when the enemies are out of reach. Aerith seems to have more of a caster role. Variety is always good, although it might become too predictable and repetitive after awhile.

- You can only control one character at a time, but you can switch at any point. Wasn't it this way in FF 15 as well? I wonder if there's any way to influence the combat behavior of the party members that you don't control? If not, the combat seems awfully simplistic.
- So far we haven't seen any Quick Time Events, which is a huge relief. During the Aps fight in the Sewers Cloud was pinned down and had to defend against attacks by holding his sword up, which was pretty close to a QTE though. There are definitely some "cinematic" elements in the gameplay.


OVERALL DESIGN

+ The visual design of Midgar is exquisite. The motor cycle chase, Sector 1 (?) downtown with Jessie and the inside of the train were all designed staying true to the original game's design. The Shinra HQ looks absolutely spot on. I dunno if I was watching a bad recording though, since some of the textures appeared quite low res.
+ Those who Fight Further music track has been orchestrated nicely. I trust Square to deliver on the music department, like they almost always do.

- First part will only feature the Midgar section of the game. This strongly implies that the game will be at least in 3 parts, since the Midgar Section of the original game was only about 1/6 of the entire game content. I would have definitely liked to see some world map exploration as well.
- I have some issues with the voice acting. Barret doesn't sound quite right, though maybe I'll get used to his voice after awhile. Aerith sounds like Vanille from FFXIII. They definitely could have made a better choice.
- Character models are rather plain, which makes me afraid that they're going to sell character costumes for extra $$$. Look forward to those Tifa Costa del Sol Bikinis.


STORY & CHARACTERS

None of the other aspects of the remake matters to me nearly as much. Are they going to do justice to the phenomenal characters and story of the original game? Difficult to say at this stage. However...

+ Sephiroth's appearance in Midgar is a part of Cloud's hallucinations, so it's done true to the spirit of the original story.
+ Tifa says she feels trapped in Midgar/Seventh Heaven, which is sort of true to her character arc.
+ It seems like Barret is forced to explain Avalance's actions to his palls. This makes me hopeful they're not trying to downplay the fact that Avalance is essentially a terrorist organization.
+ Barret thought Cloud had double-crossed him when Guard Scorpion attacked. This is true to the original story, since Barret didn't trust Cloud in the beginning.
+ Jessie, Biggs and Wedge have a much larger role. It will be interesting to see how their characters will be fleshed out. Jessie seems to be flirting with Cloud. I wonder if Tifa or Aerith will start a catfight with her?


AERITH'S CHARACTER DESIGN

This is where I think the remake is going to fail.

From the looks of it, they have changed Aerith into a cheerful and fragile female love interest, which is not at all what her character was like.

Let me just briefly summarize the depth and appeal of Aerith's character for you.

Aerith is a character who is trying to appear cheerful and lively in front of others, but from the get-go she is heavily burdened by her unique heritage. At her core, she is a profoundly sad and tragic character. By befriending Cloud and others, she is struggling to live a life of a normal young woman, if only for a short while. She even tries to have a boyfriend, ever though deep down she knows it will never work. She knows that she is not like others, but she is so hard trying to be. Yet she also knows that she has a unique, predetermined destiny. In a way, she is forced to follow a predetermined path that has been laid in front of her. She can hear the whispers of the Ancients and they guide her throughout her journey. I'm always struck by the fact how lonely she must have felt. Lifestream brings her news of the death of her step mother's husband long before the courier reaches Midgar. She has learned to hide this side of herself because other people cannot understand or accept her abilities. She knows she is the only one who can stop Jenova from corrupting the entire Lifestream. She has foreseen her own death. Somehow she has to hide all this inside her. Just be cheerful. Smile. Laugh. Maybe then she can be just an ordinary young woman. Just like everyone else.

This kind of complex character in extremely difficult to portray in a satisfactory manner. The designers have to be willing to present to the audience nuanced, subtle, well-written and well-animated moments. Slow moments that build up tension and drama. I don't believe in the current gaming climate the people at Square are able to do something like that, even with some of the original designers involved. These people understand the characters, but I don't think they can have enough creative control to make their vision truly shine.


BARRET'S CHARACTER DESIGN

Looks pretty good, to be honest. Visually great - I love the sun glasses, the clothing and the gun arm. His banter with Cloud during the Guard Scorpion fight emphasized the fact that he wants to be the leader and treats Cloud with suspicion. It's hard to tell how well Barret's character arc is going to be explored in the remake though. I'm afraid his character will be underdeveloped or completely butchered in the remake just like Aerith.


CLOUD'S CHARACTER DESIGN

Looks okay, I guess. I liked the originally revealed character design more, because his gloving Mako eyes and dehydrated body would have worked wonders as a visual storytelling tool. That way it would have actually made sense when people constantly comment on his Mako eyes. His appearance would have made it obvious to anyone that he at least used to be a SOLDIER and would also explain Barret's hesitance to trust him. His current design doesn't make his stand out in any way. It's very Advent Children esque and I don't have a huge issue with it. His voice acting is pretty good. Cloud is an extremely rich and multifaceted character, even more so than Aerith, and I hope they do him justice.


TIFA's CHARACTER DESIGN

Slightly different from her Advent Children look. Not only her clothes, which are true to the original, but also her facial design. It looks quite plain and not awfully detailed. But they still have a lot of time to improve character details, so I'm not too worried about this. I'm far more worried about her voice design. I really need some time to get used to her voice actor. Her voice sounds like someone is reading likes from a piece of paper behind a microphone, not knowing anything about the character they're supposed to be portraying. She seems to be portrayed as a compassionate and "motherly" character, which is true to her original design. Tifa is perhaps the character they will most likely get right. Which is great, since she is such a lovable character and an essential part of the overall story.


TL;DR

Ultimately I think we will end up receiving a remake that has some really great gameplay features and excellent audiovisual design, but I'm afraid it's going to be too fast, too loud and too dumb to do justice to the story and characters of the original game.
 
Last edited:

Sigourn

uooh afficionado
Joined
Feb 6, 2016
Messages
5,625
Shaewaroz Jessie also flirted with Cloud in the 1997 game.

I have to echo what Vaarna_Aarne said about the game's realistic style not doing justice to the original. I'll begin by saying I absolutely hate Barrett's design, and I think Tifa's is pretty bad: both attire and face; I don't have a problem with her boobs (I actually wished they were smaller just so I could see the butthurt, after all I wasn't planning on ever playing this game). I've seen people claim that Tifa having a bigger rack would be "unrealistic" (i.e. "goofy", not genuinely "no woman who has ever lived has gigantic breasts). But Cloud's Buster Sword looks completely retarded in this realistic style. Also Tifa is ridiculously thin; that CGI render that was posted much earlier in this thread was far more like I would expect Tifa to look like: strong build, strong legs, strong arms, cute tummy and gorgeous face.

I stand by everything I have said in the past:
  • The combat looks awkward, and unlike the many expert game designers of Reddit (the Codex has yet to emit a popular vote on it) I can't judge combat by "how cool it looks". I have played Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus, and while it was fun it also got old fairly quickly. This game's combat looks fairly similar: run around mashing attacking buttons.
  • The cinematic style can work when done well (see Cyberpunk 2077's trailer), but FFVII's looks pretty bad, dare I say amateurish.
  • The voice acting sucks.
I'm not going to talk about how this being an "Episodic" release is completely laughable because some people are more than willing to fork over cash to receive an incomplete game, which is even more preposterous because this isn't a brand new title: we ALL know what the basic plot is and what the major plot points are, so this doesn't even work like a cliffhanger of sorts (which would merit an episodic release).

Overall, I repeat the sentiment I've had for a good time already: Final Fantasy XII was a good looking game. In my opinion, a great looking game. Seeing the disproportionately positive response the announcement of a Final Fantasy VIII REMASTER has received, I have no doubt in my mind Square Enix could have greatly benefited from simply remaking Final Fantasy VII to Final Fantasy XII levels, plus high resolution textures all over the place (because as the Zodiac remaster proved, it isn't enough to add upscaling filters to low res textures). I also have a soft spot for FFXII's gameplay, the only thing the game needed was being harder, but we know that "Final Fantasy" and "difficulty" don't mix. So I would have been okay with Square Enix sacrificing FFXII's in favor of turn-based combat, even if the flaws were still there but masked because retards go "IT'S TURN-BASED, IT'S TACTICAAAAAAAAL" (all whlie mashing X/O to win because that's how easy Final Fantasy VII was at times, and that rings true for most of the franchise, really).
 

Shaewaroz

Arcane
Patron
Joined
May 4, 2013
Messages
2,923
Location
In a hobo shack due to betting on neanderthal
I'm very into cock and ball torture
Shaewaroz Jessie also flirted with Cloud in the 1997 game.

I would say Jessie was kind to Cloud, unlike some other characters of Avalance. I think there were 2 dialogue options where player could try to approach Jessie in a romantic fashion, but she always shut those attempts down. She wiped some ash from Cloud's face - in a caring way, not in a flirting way. She was the one showing Cloud the Midgar map on the train, but again, no flirting. Her leg got stuck during the Sector 6 reactor mission. When Cloud helped her, she merely said "Thanks Cloud". During the fight on the supporting pillar of the upper Midgar plate, Cloud could act like a complete retard & again imply there was something more between Cloud and Jessie. But she's literally only minutes away from her death and she was merely making her peace when she said goodbye to Cloud. A rather fucked up scene if you ask me.

So I don't think there was any flirting going on in the original. I think people get that impression because she is kind to Cloud and because you can choose dialogue options that let you sort of try to hit on her. So basically it's a Harwey Weinstein kind of romance. The only in-game consequence for hitting on her is that your romance counter with Tifa and Aerith will go down.
 
Last edited:

Sigourn

uooh afficionado
Joined
Feb 6, 2016
Messages
5,625
Shaewaroz Jessie also flirted with Cloud in the 1997 game.

I would say Jessie was kind to Cloud, unlike other characters of Avalance. I think there were 2 dialogue options where player could try to approach Jessie in a romantic fashion, but she always shut those attempts down. She wiped some ash from Cloud's face - in a caring way, not in a flirting way. She was the one showing Cloud the Midgar map on the train, but again, no flirting. Her leg got stuck during the Sector 6 reactor mission. When Cloud helped her, she merely said "Thanks Cloud". During the fight on the supporting pillar of the upper Midgar plate, Cloud could act like a complete retard & again imply there was something more between Cloud and Jessie. But she's literally only minutes away from her death and she was merely making her peace when she said goodbye to Cloud. A rather fucked up scene if you ask me.

So I don't think there was any flirting going on in the original. I think people get that impression because she is kind to Cloud and because you can choose dialogue options that let you sort of try to hit on her. So basically it's a Harwey Weinstein kind of romance. The only in-game consequence for hitting on her is that your romance counter with Tifa and Aerith will go down.

Ehh, I have to disagree. The last time I replayed the intro section I definitely got vibes of flirting from Jessie.
 

Shaewaroz

Arcane
Patron
Joined
May 4, 2013
Messages
2,923
Location
In a hobo shack due to betting on neanderthal
I'm very into cock and ball torture
Ehh, I have to disagree. The last time I replayed the intro section I definitely got vibes of flirting from Jessie.

I'm afraid this tells more about you than about FF7.

So basically it's a Harwey Weinstein kind of romance.

:troll:

It was meant as a joke, don't get offended.

But honestly, I don't think there's a single line of dialogue in which Jessie makes any kind of romantic advance or hint of interest towards Cloud. I don't know how she comes across in the Japanese version though.
 
Last edited:

mogwaimon

Magister
Joined
Jul 21, 2017
Messages
1,079
Meh. I'd prefer a VI remake. It actually needs one.
dear god no, you know not what you wish for. The last time we got FFVI, it was this abomination
vatoibui5rmedbaxqfj9.jpg


please let my favorite JRPG die in peace, Square Enix only knows how to perform necromancy and the shambling mass of flesh that comprises most of their 'remasters' is an aberration that is not meant for this world. put the monkey's paw down.
 

Okagron

Prophet
Joined
Mar 22, 2018
Messages
753
Meh. I'd prefer a VI remake. It actually needs one.
With current Square Enix doing it? God no. We have seen what they did with just mobile ports of 5 and 6 (the pic above illustrates my point). And i completely disagree, if anything 6 is one of the games in the series that has aged the best in terms of graphics. The 2D artstyle of the game still looks good today (like most late SNES RPGs do).
 

Shadenuat

Arcane
Joined
Dec 9, 2011
Messages
11,955
Location
Russia
the fuck is that picture and why did you show it to me :negative:

I just wanted purty 3d Terra + opera scene

7 looks like total remake with new engine, I don't see why not make 6 which looks say something like a high resolution 9th and keep tb combat n stuff.
 
Last edited:

As an Amazon Associate, rpgcodex.net earns from qualifying purchases.
Back
Top Bottom