Squeenix Final Fantasy VII Remake Integrade - now on Steam

[Adon]

This isn’t me making a judgement call as to whether or not the combat is better in the original game, but I’ve never understood people’s over reliance on technical limitations as an argument for moving away from turn-based gameplay mechanics as if they had no merit

I've never said one was better than the other, nor am I saying that current hardware makes turn-based obsolete. Perish the thought.

Rather I'm pointing out that developers are the ones wishing they could have made a real-time game, and settling for turn based due to limitations. That was actually the case for FF10, which was supposed to be a real-time seamless open-world MMO style combat system, but they couldn't get that working in time so they left it for FF12.

So take it up with devs; don't attack the messenger.

This wasn't aimed specifically at you, brother. It was just a general statement as I've seen that argument used plenty of times in here and elsewhere. But yes, I am aware that plenty of creative decisions come off from technical limitations, and that since the 90s developers have been trying to make games to be "cinematic" meaning that that desire didn't just pop up in the last 10 years like some people think it has.

 

[Gamezor]

So what exactly is the codex consensus on the remake now? Is it shit or not?

Probably not very good.

I personally still like it. What it does with the music of the original is amazing. The combat system is the best FF had since X/XII and the best action combat system it ever had (if you don't count ATB as action). Length and enemy variety and bossfights are all ok. I adore that they kept the amount of stupid minigames from the original, even if the minigames are usually a good bit worse. I am very impressed that they managed to nail the characters, especially Cloud whose character has completely shifted in the supplementary material. Many feared FFVII R would have an Advent Children Cloud, but that was an original Cloud. Also their inclusion of other characters from side material was cute. Kyrie can have a bigger role next game imo, fits well.

Level Design is worse. Story is bollocks, Nojima is a hack and they should have fired him years ago. Pacing has a few issues. They fumble Sephiroths introduction.

Overall a lot more good going for it than bad.
It was interesting to see 4chan coming around on this one. /v/ and the new /vrpg/ hated this ones guts on release, and they slowly got drowned out by the supporters or changed their mind.

Haha just what I wanted to know. I’ll have to pick this up eventually.

 

[Artyoan]

I will never get the love for FF12. For me it was shitty, uninspired and boring. Like playing a mmo offline or some rpg with terrible fillers...

Play FF12 on PC with the Struggle for Freedom mod. Went from a heavily flawed game to one of the best balanced jrpg's I've ever played and it shows you what the combat system was capable of.

I'm playing FF9 now and am near Disc 4. There is a whimsical nature to it that never quite meshes with the extremely dark events and themes its dealing with. The opening of the game is interesting and yet misleading. The first third of the game is slow and steady with plenty of time to set each character's personality and dilemma. It shows all the makings of something special for a while. I don't know the development of FF9 but it was clearly rushed. After recruiting Eiko the game forgets about half its characters, introduces Amarant to no effect whatsoever, Freya is forgotten about by the game itself which meta reinforces her own theme in a way, Steiner largely goes MIA, just a thorough botching of what began as a very promising game.

The child-like design is fine. Feels like a Disney/Pixar meets FF. I like the item system as finding new equipment feels good by providing new skills. Most of them are of little use though or too costly. Exploration is consistently rewarded, there is almost always an item to be found by walking the outline of an area, for better or worse. At least it gives you the favor of a popup box to let you know something is there.

Both FF9 and FF8 could have used remakes before 7. If they lack the talent to make anything truly new, might as well stick to variations of the old.

 

[Delterius]

what about intergalactic super genocide doesn't mesh with ff9's whimsical nature

 

[†††]

...

IIRC, FFIX was intended to be a spin-off of sorts, not part of the mainline series. But I think the game was rushed due to the release of the PS2. The game's release surprised a lot of casual gamers, who probably didn't expect a FF that late in PS1's cycle.

 

[Ninjerk]

I will never get the love for FF12. For me it was shitty, uninspired and boring. Like playing a mmo offline or some rpg with terrible fillers...

Play FF12 on PC with the Struggle for Freedom mod. Went from a heavily flawed game to one of the best balanced jrpg's I've ever played and it shows you what the combat system was capable of.

I'm playing FF9 now and am near Disc 4. There is a whimsical nature to it that never quite meshes with the extremely dark events and themes its dealing with. The opening of the game is interesting and yet misleading. The first third of the game is slow and steady with plenty of time to set each character's personality and dilemma. It shows all the makings of something special for a while. I don't know the development of FF9 but it was clearly rushed. After recruiting Eiko the game forgets about half its characters, introduces Amarant to no effect whatsoever, Freya is forgotten about by the game itself which meta reinforces her own theme in a way, Steiner largely goes MIA, just a thorough botching of what began as a very promising game.

The child-like design is fine. Feels like a Disney/Pixar meets FF. I like the item system as finding new equipment feels good by providing new skills. Most of them are of little use though or too costly. Exploration is consistently rewarded, there is almost always an item to be found by walking the outline of an area, for better or worse. At least it gives you the favor of a popup box to let you know something is there.

Both FF9 and FF8 could have used remakes before 7. If they lack the talent to make anything truly new, might as well stick to variations of the old.

Do me a favor and play FF9 to the very end. I want to hear what you think after you beat the final boss.

 

[Artyoan]

Ropulos, thats sad to hear but makes sense.

Ninjerk, I'm definitely going to finish it. Despite my complaints I haven't run out of patience on it.

 

[Artyoan]

I will never get the love for FF12. For me it was shitty, uninspired and boring. Like playing a mmo offline or some rpg with terrible fillers...

Play FF12 on PC with the Struggle for Freedom mod. Went from a heavily flawed game to one of the best balanced jrpg's I've ever played and it shows you what the combat system was capable of.

I'm playing FF9 now and am near Disc 4. There is a whimsical nature to it that never quite meshes with the extremely dark events and themes its dealing with. The opening of the game is interesting and yet misleading. The first third of the game is slow and steady with plenty of time to set each character's personality and dilemma. It shows all the makings of something special for a while. I don't know the development of FF9 but it was clearly rushed. After recruiting Eiko the game forgets about half its characters, introduces Amarant to no effect whatsoever, Freya is forgotten about by the game itself which meta reinforces her own theme in a way, Steiner largely goes MIA, just a thorough botching of what began as a very promising game.

The child-like design is fine. Feels like a Disney/Pixar meets FF. I like the item system as finding new equipment feels good by providing new skills. Most of them are of little use though or too costly. Exploration is consistently rewarded, there is almost always an item to be found by walking the outline of an area, for better or worse. At least it gives you the favor of a popup box to let you know something is there.

Both FF9 and FF8 could have used remakes before 7. If they lack the talent to make anything truly new, might as well stick to variations of the old.

Do me a favor and play FF9 to the very end. I want to hear what you think after you beat the final boss.

Well, Disc 4 was short and I just finished it. Someone was on a spiritual journey tripping balls when they created that last dungeon with the crystal consciousness of memories being housed in a universal mind evolution. Kuja received a bizarre redemption angle for reasons I don't understand and the final boss comes out of nowhere for one single scene as a representation of despair before death. I spent about five minutes trying to remember any reference or foreshadowing to this guy but if it was there then I missed it. 'Botched' might be underselling the last third of the game. I would love to know what content was cut and just how far the end result deviated from the original script. I did not think I would go from Steiner carrying Garnet in a bag filled with smelly pickles to a red planet of clones trying to harvest souls of a rival planet for their rebirth. Genociding rat people now seems so quaint.

Still, a touching ending and a good fairytale level closure to the characters for the most part. I don't regret playing it and that counts for something. I could probably list out a couple dozen 'WTF' moments and inconsistencies reflecting back on it all.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Although Final Fantasy IX was influenced by all of the first six Final Fantasies, it was particularly inspired by FFIV. The revelations of Kuja's connection to Zidane and his ultimate redemption were both call-backs to the characterization of Golbez, FFIV's antagonist for almost the entirety of the game. Similarly, the background story of another civilization striving to resurrect itself is a callback to late developments in FFIV with the revelation that one of the world's two moons is actually an artificial construct built by a people fleeing the destruction of their world (and nearly of all them remaining asleep in artificial hibernation). For that matter, even the earlier darkness of FFIX's plot, wherein the country of Alexandria uses its military power to conquer or destroy other nations, is a reference to the earlier sections of FFIV's plot in which the airforce of Baron is used to raid Mysidia, Damcyan, Fabul, and Eblan.

 

[Ninjerk]

Well, Disc 4 was short and I just finished it. Someone was on a spiritual journey tripping balls when they created that last dungeon with the crystal consciousness of memories being housed in a universal mind evolution. Kuja received a bizarre redemption angle for reasons I don't understand and the final boss comes out of nowhere for one single scene as a representation of despair before death. I spent about five minutes trying to remember any reference or foreshadowing to this guy but if it was there then I missed it. 'Botched' might be underselling the last third of the game. I would love to know what content was cut and just how far the end result deviated from the original script. I did not think I would go from Steiner carrying Garnet in a bag filled with smelly pickles to a red planet of clones trying to harvest souls of a rival planet for their rebirth. Genociding rat people now seems so quaint.

Still, a touching ending and a good fairytale level closure to the characters for the most part. I don't regret playing it and that counts for something. I could probably list out a couple dozen 'WTF' moments and inconsistencies reflecting back on it all.

I remember thinking at the time that it was a complete asspull.

 

[Artyoan]

Well, Disc 4 was short and I just finished it. Someone was on a spiritual journey tripping balls when they created that last dungeon with the crystal consciousness of memories being housed in a universal mind evolution. Kuja received a bizarre redemption angle for reasons I don't understand and the final boss comes out of nowhere for one single scene as a representation of despair before death. I spent about five minutes trying to remember any reference or foreshadowing to this guy but if it was there then I missed it. 'Botched' might be underselling the last third of the game. I would love to know what content was cut and just how far the end result deviated from the original script. I did not think I would go from Steiner carrying Garnet in a bag filled with smelly pickles to a red planet of clones trying to harvest souls of a rival planet for their rebirth. Genociding rat people now seems so quaint.

Still, a touching ending and a good fairytale level closure to the characters for the most part. I don't regret playing it and that counts for something. I could probably list out a couple dozen 'WTF' moments and inconsistencies reflecting back on it all.

I remember thinking at the time that it was a complete asspull.

It was quite the asspull and judging by my google searching there is a lot of cope going around as to how it was a 'genius' move. I also found that Hades was originally the final boss according to the concept art. That wouldn't have been much better if they didn't lay any groundwork for him but his model has the Terra eye symbolism all over it which seems more appropriate as a final boss at the very least. Frustrating if only because it doesn't seem like it should have been hard to come up with something much more cohesive here even on limited time.

Since this is the FF7 remake thread I'll probably move any further random thoughts I have to an FF9 thread. And I have many.

 

[Starwars]

I've been playing this for a bit and despite the awful anime grunts, retarded changes to the story and other stupid stuff, it's still pretty entertaining for what it is.

The combat kinda kills it for me a little bit though. Not because I feel that the actual combat system in itself is terrible, but because it suffers so much from ADHD EXPLOSIONS AND LOUD NOISES AND PEOPLE FLYING EVERYWEHRE OMG syndrome. It's fucking exhausting to play the combat sections.

 

[TheImplodingVoice]

Played up to chapter 6 when it came out earlier this year but I was busy with other things. Started replaying it and got the platinum on Friday. Hard mode should have been available from the start and not only after finishing it. Normal is way too easy and no boss or enemy was a threat to me on normal. Hard mode is where the game started to shine. Even normal enemies pose a threat and the bare bones combat system was actually a bit better on hard mode and it wasn't "press square to win"

Hate having my trophy list incomplete on ps4 so I am glad I got the platinum. Overall they completely butchered the story, shallow battle system, too many "forced walking" sections in the game. But Tifa was worth looking at and on hard mode the game became fun. Looking forward to seeing how far Square will butcher the story with the next part. I hope Square does not decide to remake any other Final Fantasy. Especially not VI

At least we have Nihon Falcom with Legend Of Heroes. And many other great jrpgs from smaller devs.

 

[Ash]

Overall they completely butchered the story, shallow battle system, too many "forced walking" sections in the game. But Tifa was worth looking at

...and on hard mode the game became fun.

I hope Square does not decide to remake any other Final Fantasy. Especially not VI

Hate having my trophy list incomplete on ps4 so I am glad I got the platinum.

Looking forward to seeing how far Square will butcher the story with the next part.

I can't even comprehend your mental processing. How do the neurons connect?

Roguey is certainly an agent of decline, but he somehow enjoys trash games. You I...

...fuck you are all just thirsty virgins needing your waifu fix and platinum gamer cred. I forgot. Carry on I guess.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

 

[Ash]

Thank you for posting, nice simple example of how the remake is complete trash. This is precisely what I hate about 95% modern jap shit. All "style" (using that term generously), absolutely no substance. It sucks even more when they take a classic with both (FF7) and Nomura it. Who even likes this shit? What is wrong with people. The whole game is like this but worse, with all the waifu worship, lame acting, endless bland corridors, stupid side quests etc.

 

[TheImplodingVoice]

I'm just still surprised that Nomura even still has a job at Square Enix. After wasting more than 10 years on Versus XIII and wasting a shit ton of money in the process and had nothing to show. It went to the point that it was taken away from him, given to a different team and renamed XV. How he still has work at Square Enix completely baffles me.

 

[Necroscope]

Thank you for posting, nice simple example of how the remake is complete trash. This is precisely what I hate about 95% modern jap shit. All "style" (using that term generously), absolutely no substance.

It's like this with everything, not only Japanese stuff. Take LOTR vs Hobbit for example - the latter is like one big Legolas scene from the former. The art of building proper tension and atmosphere is almost completely lost nowadays in favor of brainless "button awesome" mashing.

 

[Ash]

Yeah, I can't really disagree with that. Everything has gone to shit.

 

[Frank Capicoli]

Square Enix have announced Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade; the PlayStation 5 version of the game featuring new content starring Yuffie.

The game is a PlayStation 5 port of Final Fantasy VII Remake; featuring improved graphics, performance modes, and haptic feedback via the DualSense controller. New features also include Classic Mode on normal difficulty, along with a Photo Mode.

In addition, there is a new story focusing on Yuffie Kisaragi; entering Midgar as a (possibly self-proclaimed) spy for the new Wutai government. Along with new allies and new threats, players must help Yuffie in her quest around Midgar around the time of the events of the original game.

While players of Final Fantasy VII Remake on PlayStation 4 can get a free upgrade to the PlayStation 5 version of the game, the Yuffie campaign will then become a separate purchase.

 

[Generic-Giant-Spider]

Yuffie = Vincent Valentine Waiting Room.

 

[Roguey]

Yuffie managed to sneak her way past the time jannies huh.

 

[ADL]

Convenient timing for the PS5 version's announcement given that the game's one year exclusivity period ends on April 10th.

 

[Dishonoredbr]

It sucks even more when they take a classic with both (FF7) and Nomura it.

It's funny because Nomura was the guy that hold them back to change even more.. But hey continue to hate the man. when he was guy behind some real good decision for the OG.

Oh btw. Nomura is not going to be the director anymore, can't be director while in so many projects. Still creative director on it. Hamaguchi , the guy who pushed Sephy to be appear early on FF7R and

Spoiler

be the final boss

going to be the director.

https://twinfinite.net/2021/02/final-fantasy-vii-remake-part-2-naoki-hamaguchi-director/

 

[Yosharian]

SquareEnix is just dead to me at this point.