Squeenix Final Fantasy VII Remake Integrade - now on Steam

[Major_Blackhart]

It's not just that, but it's obvious from some later areas in FF7 that it was unfinished. Meh, I was spoilt by FF3/6, superior story and overall size. I mean, how the FUCK did they cram all that world into one of those little SNES cartridges? That, PLUS the massive fucking ending!!! Just awesome.

 

[†††]

how the FUCK did they cram all that world into one of those little SNES cartridges?

By making the second half of the game be a huge fetch quest.

 

[Haplo]

Now nostalgia will make it up for a lot of people, but honestly it looks more and more shit the years gone bye.

Even at the time, I thought Final Fantasy VII was the first ugly FF game, with the premature switch to 3D graphics on a new system causing Squaresoft horrendous difficulties in everything except the pre-rendered backgrounds. Especially for the character models, which were hideous even in their higher-polygon FMV versions, much less the lower-polygon battle or "chibi" versions. Although Final Fantasy VIII has been subjected to same aging that affects all 3D graphics, it was an enormous technical leap on the part of Squaresoft in just two years, and the character graphics were vastly improved, looking quite impressive in 1999.

Hm, I've found the combat models and FMV cinematics rather nice - for their time.
The chibi avatars were terribad, though. And the backgrounds blurry (technically low-res I mean).

 

[Hellraiser]

how the FUCK did they cram all that world into one of those little SNES cartridges?

Tile maps. Back in the day they used to do seriously autistic shit with tile maps to build graphics (including large images that look like a single bitmap but aren't due to lack of memory, battle backgrounds IIRC do this) despite tech limitations, flipping tiles, rotating tiles, color palette swapping (world of ruin tiles seem to be using this, the ground is probably the world of balance tile set with some clever tricks/color encoding in the palette to make the swap possible).

 

[Ash]

It's not just that, but it's obvious from some later areas in FF7 that it was unfinished.

Such as? i have never thought this.

We're never going to agree though, because for you the game becomes shit after midgar whereas for me that's when the game actually starts to become good (I love its particular blend of sci-fi and fantasy. More importantly, Gameplay-wise things start to branch out a bit: level/world design RPG systems enemy skill materia more characters and so on. midgar is still absolutely awesome as an intro though).

RE: FFVIII technical leap. Yeah it's pretty amazing how much Squaresoft managed to improve visually with 8, and everything is much more consistent compared to 7's skitzo art style, but I have always enjoyed 7's look regardless. The chibi dolls and their cartoonish animations provide constant comic relief. The pre-rendered backgrounds are fucking gorgeous, as are most FMVs. The battle graphics and world map are very ugly, but it has never bothered me at all, because 3D back then just was ugly as a rule. FF7 PC mods do help a bit here in particular for whatever that is worth (I don't care). Counter-intuitively there's something to appreciate in the sheer visual diversity as well, as opposed to 8's (or mostly any other game's) consistency. Visual Consistency is important for things like immersion most notably, which I do value, but I value weird visual variety too. I appreciate 7's art precisely for the time it was made. it is unique. Every AAA game looks the same today. FF7R for the most part looks like any other modern game (and less appealing than the original in many cases. beautifully hand-drawn-pre-rendered backgrounds beat modern 3D graphics on a purely visual appeal level). 90s games all had their own unique look. I miss that diversity, but I've never been a graphics whore chasing HD everything in spite of everything else so few can probably relate.
Ultimately I'm making excuses and better-detailed character models, battle and world map GFX probably would be a net positive, as long as the personality is not lost in the process (e.g chibi doll's animations heaviliy lent on as characters' form of expression + comedy).

 

[Zlaja]

Meanwhile FF 8-9 handle those transitions smoothly and to a degree of quality not seen in any other game at the time

Yeah, I remember being amazed by the FMV transitions in FF8 because they were seamless with no black screen and pause in between. Unfortunately, that and the opening theme were the only things that impressed me about the game.

 

[SerratedBiz]

FF7 was already doing the FMV to 2D background transitions smoothly. Hell, the intro sequence through Midgar into the train and Avalanche jumping out of it is all done by seamlessly switching and without a single load time.

I don't trust anyone who says that FF7 was the first "ugly" 3D game. It's not just about poly count and textures, it's about design and use of the resources available to you. FF7 was excellent in that regard and, even though it is true that there's a difference between battle and world models, the direction is consistent and Square did a fine job squeezing the most of out of those chibi models. Unlike 2021 games, the story is told primarily during in-engine cutscenes (rather than 17 minute, $100 million dollar mocap / voice-lined movies) and the chibi models have enough animations to convey that with a lot of life.

Pretending like you weren't impressed by it at the time just makes you look like a douche. At the time, this level of 3D for an RPG was nothing short of groundbreaking.

 

[Villagkouras]

Who the fuck designed this thing? And who likes this?

There is a cutscene in every. Three. Fucking. Steps.

There are cutscenses EVERYWHERE, even inside battles.

The pacing is terrible. No one mentions this, it's incredible. This is not a good game, it's hardly a game because we don't play it!

 

[Thac0]

It has kind of drawn a lucky deal with that combat system. Having action combat fill a turbo meter which is then used to issue special commands, including healing and buffs, to allies is straight up genius.
A massive drawback of action combat in action rpgs is that the feeling of fighting as a group evaporates. It is all about your main character, and your allies help you juggle an enemy or throw a heal once in a blue moon at best.
The group feels cohesive in VII R's combat, you buff each other, set up combos, swap from character to character and even try to keep the others alive. It also casually solves the problem of healing in combat that can be the death of a poorly planned action combat system (FF XV where you can potion spam through the game). It is not even that fleshed out in this game, increasing the amount of ATB for every party member to about 5, having more maneuvers that take more than 1 atb bar and having better AI that does not always focus the player controlled character hard would imrove the combat a lot. The baseline however is amazing and I hope it gets used again if they make a more party focussed action rpg in the future. I am categorically a turn based > action guy, but I don't mind VII R combat at all.

This game has a lot of flaws from FFXIII, unsurprisingly, it is the same team. But I don't really feel like hating on this game, because of the genius combat system.
Finished it once, won't replay because of my issues with Business Division 1' style, but no bad feelings about this game.
Unit customisation was deece aswell, I used a magic based Cloud for the most part with the Mythril Sword.

 

[Deflowerer]

Who the fuck designed this thing? And who likes this?

There is a cutscene in every. Three. Fucking. Steps.

There are cutscenses EVERYWHERE, even inside battles.

The pacing is terrible. No one mentions this, it's incredible. This is not a good game, it's hardly a game because we don't play it!

It has two baggages basically:

a) Has to jerk off to existing FFVII fans, thus more fan service and "world building"
b) It's one episode of a larger game that due to its format had to be stretched much longer

That's pretty much why.

 

[Roguey]

Who the fuck designed this thing? And who likes this?

There is a cutscene in every. Three. Fucking. Steps.

There are cutscenses EVERYWHERE, even inside battles.

The pacing is terrible. No one mentions this, it's incredible. This is not a good game, it's hardly a game because we don't play it!

When's the last time you played a Final Fantasy game?

 

[mediocrepoet]

Who the fuck designed this thing? And who likes this?

There is a cutscene in every. Three. Fucking. Steps.

There are cutscenses EVERYWHERE, even inside battles.

The pacing is terrible. No one mentions this, it's incredible. This is not a good game, it's hardly a game because we don't play it!

This is my biggest issue with modern JRPGs generally.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I haven't been following the remake so I am unaware how many parts there are to complete the arc and how many are actually finished. There are probably some youtube vids on this. I'd rather wait until the entire package is complete tbh.

 

[Villagkouras]

It has kind of drawn a lucky deal with that combat system. Having action combat fill a turbo meter which is then used to issue special commands, including healing and buffs, to allies is straight up genius.
A massive drawback of action combat in action rpgs is that the feeling of fighting as a group evaporates. It is all about your main character, and your allies help you juggle an enemy or throw a heal once in a blue moon at best.
The group feels cohesive in VII R's combat, you buff each other, set up combos, swap from character to character and even try to keep the others alive. It also casually solves the problem of healing in combat that can be the death of a poorly planned action combat system (FF XV where you can potion spam through the game). It is not even that fleshed out in this game, increasing the amount of ATB for every party member to about 5, having more maneuvers that take more than 1 atb bar and having better AI that does not always focus the player controlled character hard would imrove the combat a lot. The baseline however is amazing and I hope it gets used again if they make a more party focussed action rpg in the future. I am categorically a turn based > action guy, but I don't mind VII R combat at all.

This game has a lot of flaws from FFXIII, unsurprisingly, it is the same team. But I don't really feel like hating on this game, because of the genius combat system.
Finished it once, won't replay because of my issues with Business Division 1' style, but no bad feelings about this game.
Unit customisation was deece aswell, I used a magic based Cloud for the most part with the Mythril Sword.

Seriously, combat is the only thing that keeps from uninstalling it. It's fun and I agree with your post. I think camera and enemies' tells could be improved in the future, also companions AI could use some tweaking. But combat is good.

It has two baggages basically:

a) Has to jerk off to existing FFVII fans, thus more fan service and "world building"
b) It's one episode of a larger game that due to its format had to be stretched much longer

That's pretty much why.

Yeah, I haven't played original FF7, so I couldn't care less about the characters. It's a PS Plus offering and had great reviews and said "why not?".

When's the last time you played a Final Fantasy game?

Never. I tried 15 but I found it too juvenile and boring. I've played some JRPGs in the past and I know that characters talk a lot in these, but this is on another level.

 

[Villagkouras]

This is my biggest issue with modern JRPGs generally.

I've played for 20 hours. According to a YT video which has all cutscenes of the game, at this point, we've seen 10 hours of cutscenes. So, 10 hours of gameplay? No. There are chapters that you just WALK FOR MINUTES. Everything is so slow. I'd say that in 20 hours of "gaming", I've actually played about 5.

The sad thing is that when I finished a chapter where the gameplay/time ratio was too low, fans of the game say it's their favourite. Unanimously. Which is the saddest of all, because I know I'm a minority.

 

[Ash]

Who the fuck designed this thing? And who likes this?

There is a cutscene in every. Three. Fucking. Steps.

There are cutscenses EVERYWHERE, even inside battles.

The pacing is terrible. No one mentions this, it's incredible. This is not a good game, it's hardly a game because we don't play it!

When's the last time you played a Final Fantasy game?

A couple months ago. FF is a highly diverse series of games. This piece of shit is nothing like a 90s FF game. An 80s FF game (e.g the original) just forget it, as it is 100% gameplay, even if it is a mediocre game.

The only thing this game should be compared to is the original Final Fantasy 7, which absolutely destroys this piece of shit remake. Honestly anyone who supports Square Enix post-merger should be castrated and sent to go knit or something equally banal, that's all their small mind can comprehend. Square Enix have made nothing but trash.

 

[Roguey]

A couple months ago. FF is a highly diverse series of games. This piece of shit is nothing like a 90s FF game. An 80s FF game (e.g the original) just forget it, as it is 100% gameplay, even if it is a mediocre game.

Can't believe you're misunderstanding that my point is that this is how they've been for over a decade. This is from an 00s anime:

 

[mogwaimon]

A couple months ago. FF is a highly diverse series of games. This piece of shit is nothing like a 90s FF game. An 80s FF game (e.g the original) just forget it, as it is 100% gameplay, even if it is a mediocre game.

Can't believe you're misunderstanding that my point is that this is how they've been for over a decade. This is from an 00s anime:

that's because they've made exactly one mainline FF game in the last decade and it was pretty bad. feels bad realizing that FF13 was made in 200-friggin-9, I at least thought 13 was in the last decade...and 14 doesn't count because it's an MMO, though there's metric shit-tons of cutscenes in that game regardless.

 

[Abu Antar]

FFVIIR's problem is that they took a five hour section of a classic game, and made it into a 40 hour game. At the same time, they butchered the characters, story and feeling of the original. Cringe worthy writing, that's borderline abysmal, especially Aerith. Most of what they added doesn't make the game better. The new characters introduced to this game all had terrible designs, made even worse by the DLC.

The combat was fun at times, but that's about it. Had this not been on PS+, I would have never played it.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

We must honor and remember the originals.

have a bath towel

Forget the FFVII rage.

Forget.............

 

[Ash]

A couple months ago. FF is a highly diverse series of games. This piece of shit is nothing like a 90s FF game. An 80s FF game (e.g the original) just forget it, as it is 100% gameplay, even if it is a mediocre game.

Can't believe you're misunderstanding that my point is that this is how they've been for over a decade. This is from an 00s anime:

Right, and Final Fantasy hasn't been Final Fantasy in over a decade, all the soul, art, cleverness and mostly tasteful (VIII not withstanding) style is gone. Just as Deus Ex hasn't been Deus Ex in over a decade. Doom hasn't been Doom in nearly three. Tomb Raider...Thief...Elder Scrolls...almost every long standing series suffered the great decline in some form, and what became of FF is actually one of the worst examples. The greatest of declines. this stuff is like some teen's retard-tier fanfic on newgrounds by comparison.

Familiarize yourself with old 90s FF, 5 through to 9 in particular, they're wonderful games. Not this new garbage.

Anyway my point is, "have you never played a FF before" is wrong to say in this context, because these new games aren't really Final Fantasy at all. they're so different and so declined. The moment Squaresoft ceased to exist, when Sakaguchi (FF's creator) left the company, and the corporate entity Square Enix rose, is when many great series died or were set to die, from Tomb Raider to FF to Thief. Thief 4 clearly isn't a Thief game. Tomb Raider 2013 has little in common with TR as Core Design envisioned it. They just take the names and thematic premise and reboot them into complete garbage for mass consumption suitable for mediocre minds.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Familiarize yourself with old 90s FF, 5 through to 9 in particular, they're wonderful games. Not this new garbage.

Agreed with almost your entire post except for this. Should be 4 through 8.
Fuck 9 and everything that came after.

 

[mediocrepoet]

I know it's an unpopular position. I basically hated every character in 9, didn't like the story, etc. 4, 6, 7, and 8 had fairly dark, edgy stories (I haven't played enough of 5 to know either way), while 9 was far more light hearted which didn't appeal to me. There were a few moments like things related to Vivi, but overall the tone of the game was far different.

Actually, Final Fantasy 9 was the beginning of my growing dislike of JRPGs in general (too cinematic, too storyfag, too juvenile, etc.). The flaws were present and irritated me in 7 and 8 as well, but 9 was where it started to really bug me.

 

[Thac0]

too juvenile

Strange complaint about FF9. Light hearted stories can be more mature than darker ones, particularily edgy storytelling is most of the time just juvenile. FF9 is more mature than both FF7 and FF8 which are chock full of teen angst, while FF9 at its best can capture a timeless Grimms Fairytale charm.
Warm colours are for children and cool colours are for adults is a very simple mindset.

 

[mediocrepoet]

too juvenile

Strange complaint about FF9. Light hearted stories can be more mature than darker ones, particularily edgy storytelling is most of the time just juvenile. FF9 is more mature than both FF7 and FF8 which are chock full of teen angst, while FF9 at its best can capture a timeless Grimms Fairytale charm.
Warm colours are for children and cool colours are for adults is a very simple mindset.

You certainly showed me. Now I love the game I've always hated for a variety of reasons.