Squeenix Final Fantasy VII Remake Integrade - now on Steam

[Necroscope]

I went through the ripped music files and there are multiple, slightly different, stripped down versions of every major theme for changes of pace in story. So it seems like a "solid" soundtrack is no longer a thing in this game.

 

[Necroscope]

Tifa, who's a martial artist fighting creatures the size of a building without any weapon aside from battle gloves, engaging in bitch slapping contest in 2020 graphics glory would be something else. But hey, who familiar with FF level of nonsense gives a fuck about such details?

 

[Falksi]

Also, half of the atmosphere of the original comes from the Nobuo Uematsu's soundtrack - in the remake the music has this orchestral background filler feel to it. I'm surprised as the new version of the fight theme posted online sounds very cool:

Orchestration simply adds too many bells and whistles to make everything sound grander whether that was Uematsu's intention in the first place or not. Can you imagine listening to the orchestrated track for hours and hours, like you most likely will, compared to the original and not get tired of it in the process? New version is something you'd almost reserve for a boss fight, especially with its opening. There is a case to be made for MIDI simplicity if you're expected to keep hearing the same song repeatedly if you ask me.

This isn't to say that the new orchestral version by Uematsu isn't top-grade, it's just that the MIDI soundtrack he made originally is arguably the best MIDI soundtrack there is, and one of the all-time best soundtracks even to this day. And a big part of that is how punchy it feels due to having no bells and whistles.

It's a stunning piece of music either way. The orchestral "upgrade" definitely lacks the cutting sharpness of the last riff though.

Amazing what excitement a fucking magically delicious combination of music & dramatic camera angles can create in a game. Every attack & summon felt like it mattered.

 

[Necroscope]

Yeah but FF7 is a very poorly balanced game in respect to attacks/magic/summons. At the very beginning you can use attacks/magic interchangeably, but then attacks become completely irrelevant and stay that way for a large portion of the game (it's best to just spam with magic/enemy skill and limit breaks). Most of the summons are also relevant only for a short amount of time after getting them, and then it's again best to spam multiple attacks + mastered materia magic/enemy skill. Only the most powerful summons like Bahamuts stay relatively relevant.

 

[TheHeroOfTime]

That new battle theme is kinda weak to be honest. The original during its second half it hits you with nostalgia, and guess what, I never played this game back in the days. I played it recently, and the music hits you thanks to the great work of Uematsu.

 

[Ash]

Square Enix are master rapists. Japanese organised art rape syndicate. I wish they'd go bankrupt and stop destroying every franchise they own, including those under the Eidos label. Instead of buying this garbage monstrosity I recommend replaying the original with this mod to address the easy combat: https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/828/

Also, half of the atmosphere of the original comes from the Nobuo Uematsu's soundtrack - in the remake the music has this orchestral background filler feel to it.

Oh they're doing the whole orchestral thing every other game and remake does this days. Soulless assholes.
Game dev should be liquidated.

 

[Necroscope]

You're even angry at this point? I thought shit is expected by default nowadays.

 

[Black]

the Avalance explosion only causing minor damage to the reactor and Shinra making it worse on purpose.

What shitshow, turning pretty much the only morally-ambiguous thing about the game into good guys who dindu muffin. Now the only real ambiguous thing is Cloud's sex.

 

[Damned Registrations]

I mean, it never seemed that ambiguous to me in the first place. Shinra straight up murdered an entire sector for profit, had vast human experimentation programs, and did plenty of other incredibly evil stuff. Avalanche wouldn't have really been in a grey area unless they like, destroyed the entire city or started using children as human shields or something. Even then I'd probably be on their side. I do resent the whole 'do the right thing without making any sacrifices' ethos that seems to be popular in japanese fiction these days though. Especially since it usually leads to hamfisted plot armor to make it work out for the good guy.

 

[Tigranes]

Well, what the original FF7 didn't show us is the cost of blowing up an entire sector reactor. You'd have to assume that the consequences aren't as simple as "oh the power's out for a few hours". You can imagine dozens of casualties from the explosion (plus all the random encounter kills I guess), shutting down critical systems in hospitals and the like again causing deaths and suffering, perhaps long-term issues where the reactor can't be rebuilt quickly and that effectively makes the possibility of getting into the upper sectors to live a decent life even harder. You can imagine quite a lot of 'ordinary' people resenting Avalanche for making their only route to a prosperous, healthy life even more difficult (which you might view as entitled, justified, whatever). We don't really get any of that, and all the collateral damage is conveniently of Shinra's doing.

 

[Black]

NPCs in the original FF7 talk about how the reactor explosion resulted in many people dying.

 

[JDR13]

A lot of nitpicking going on here. Based on what I've heard so far, the new music isn't bad at all. People are exaggerating about how good the original music was. One of the best soundtracks of all time? Maybe if we're talking about JRPGs only.

The nostalgia is strong in this thread. I'm sure I'll get flamed for saying this, but FF7 was never the masterpiece that some people are making it out to be. It's not even the best of the older Final Fantasy games imo. I thought it was a small step backwards in many ways compared to FF IV-VI.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Well, what the original FF7 didn't show us is the cost of blowing up an entire sector reactor. You'd have to assume that the consequences aren't as simple as "oh the power's out for a few hours". You can imagine dozens of casualties from the explosion (plus all the random encounter kills I guess), shutting down critical systems in hospitals and the like again causing deaths and suffering, perhaps long-term issues where the reactor can't be rebuilt quickly and that effectively makes the possibility of getting into the upper sectors to live a decent life even harder. You can imagine quite a lot of 'ordinary' people resenting Avalanche for making their only route to a prosperous, healthy life even more difficult (which you might view as entitled, justified, whatever). We don't really get any of that, and all the collateral damage is conveniently of Shinra's doing.

I mean, literally none of that matters since Shinra killed the entire sector. If anything, blowing up the reactor at least saved whoever left the sector due to the trouble it caused. And whatever legitimate hate avalanche would get pales in comparison to the shinra propaganda machine's work on them.

 

[Black]

Yes, Shinra was bad, the point is that Avalanche weren't exactly super duper good+ with no blood on their hands either, now that's out of the window.

 

[paperjack]

While I like the story, I find the combat and grind in FF games insufferable. Is there any news on whether it is going to be updated, or it's going to be the same to a tie?

 

[Damned Registrations]

That's a fairly large assumption to make based on one changed scene. And it's not like they're not killing the security guards.

 

[Deflowerer]

Yeah, but there's a difference between killing targets that pose a threat and causing collateral damage to innocent civilians.

 

[Damned Registrations]

I don't think the rank and file shinra guards earned any more bullets than the civillians. They're just doing their jobs when some lunatics broke in and started shooting the place up. The way I see it they're both just collateral on the way to taking down the management, who are pretty much all total psychos.

 

[GhostCow]

 

[sullynathan]

BAD NEWS

https://square-enix-games.com/en_US/news/message-final-fantasy-vii-remake-development-team

SQUARE ENIX announced today that the global release date for FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE will be April 10, 2020.

Below is a message from the development team:

“We know that so many of you are looking forward to the release of FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE and have been waiting patiently to experience what we have been working on. In order to ensure we deliver a game that is in-line with our vision, and the quality that our fans who have been waiting for deserve, we have decided to move the release date to April 10, 2020.

We are making this tough decision in order to give ourselves a few extra weeks to apply final polish to the game and to deliver you with the best possible experience. I, on behalf of the whole team, want to apologize to everyone, as I know this means waiting for the game just a little bit longer.

Thank you for your patience and continued support”

Yoshinori Kitase, Producer of FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE.

FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE will be available for the PS4 on April 10, 2020.

 

[Endemic]

NPCs in the original FF7 talk about how the reactor explosion resulted in many people dying.

Reeve Cait Sith even calls out Barret directly on it.

 

[Duraframe300]

BAD NEWS

https://square-enix-games.com/en_US/news/message-final-fantasy-vii-remake-development-team

SQUARE ENIX announced today that the global release date for FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE will be April 10, 2020.

Below is a message from the development team:

“We know that so many of you are looking forward to the release of FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE and have been waiting patiently to experience what we have been working on. In order to ensure we deliver a game that is in-line with our vision, and the quality that our fans who have been waiting for deserve, we have decided to move the release date to April 10, 2020.

We are making this tough decision in order to give ourselves a few extra weeks to apply final polish to the game and to deliver you with the best possible experience. I, on behalf of the whole team, want to apologize to everyone, as I know this means waiting for the game just a little bit longer.

Thank you for your patience and continued support”

Yoshinori Kitase, Producer of FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE.

FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE will be available for the PS4 on April 10, 2020.

Years and years of development time with multiple delays for what didn't even amount to a quarter of the original game.

I still fear Midgard will end up being bloated as fuck, while the second game will be rushed to death.

 

[kaisergeddon]

I'll be surprised if Squeenix manages to finish this remake. Each successive release will sell a fraction of the one that comes before it. Basically, the money won't even be there once the spectacle of Aeris's new death CGI rhythm dance minigame is spoiled for everyone and they finally get to see Cloud in a dress or whatever. People are quick to move on and the first game will be enough for most casuals.

I'm patiently waiting for the PC release. I don't care about this remake either way, but it's imperative I have a mod to remove Tifa's sports bra before I even consider launching the game.

 

[Necroscope]

I wonder how do they plan to pull off the rest of the game given that the first part, which takes place in Midgar, feels like a game within the game and the moment you enter the world map the tone of the journey changes completely; there are no more closed urban settings - only small towns and villages. I always thought it was a very inconsistent idea for a game.

 

[Damned Registrations]

I'd heard they were planning on doing it in two parts for exactly that reason. And obviously they'll be able to reuse a ton of assets for the second part to keep development costs down, developing both in parallel, etc.