Support NeoGAF

[HeelPower]

Nope. He was answering a question. I don't think he pays too much attention to people calling it multi-part and episodes.

haha yeah.Probably shouldn't pay too much attention to the specifics.

 

[Widge]

I can see the game happily split into chunks, it wouldn't mirror the CD splits though.

Part 1 - Midgar
Part 2 - Chasing Sephiroph (I'd end it at North Crater)
Part 3 - Saving The World

Enough content to be lengthy on each I'd reckon.

 

[Ray Down]

The people who shitpost about 2026 release dates will just shitpost about "You're not playing the TRUE game" because it's in parts.

Just wait till some of the changes and stuff, expect Cindey and Stella levels of bad.

 

[Afrodium]

Yeah, this is the kind of PR you use when you intend to charge $60.

 

[KZXcellent]

Just wait till some of the changes and stuff, expect Cindey and Stella levels of bad.

It can't get Stella levels of bad...

Spoiler

and then I remembered this is Final Fantasy VII

Of course I don't actually think they'll change anything that would give THAT much backlash. Aside from the combat system.

 

[Ray Down]

It can't get Stella levels of bad...

Spoiler

and then I remembered this is Final Fantasy VII

She called Aerith now instead of Aeris.

"SE has pissed on the fans, they changed her entire identity"

Shit just wait for the Tifa design.

What you said is true, though about changes may not have that backlash but it still FF7.

 

[supernormal]

This is pretty much what I said in the other thread. It's not gonna be some little 10-20 dollar episodes. It's gonna be separated like a franchise (think Mass Effect 1,2,3 or even FXIII-1 and 2). Each "episode" is gonna be a full 60 dollar release and the time frame between them will probably be years.

 

[oimori]

FF7 is too massive to remake.
that's why FF7-remake was treated as "Pandora's box"

 

[KZXcellent]

She called Aerith now instead of Aeris.

"SE has pissed on the fans, they changed her entire identity"

Shit just wait for the Tifa design.

I hope they do that. Aerith sounds better.

Spoiler

COME AT ME.

 

[JeffZero]

I hope they do that. Aerith sounds better.

Spoiler

COME AT ME.

With you.

 

[Ray Down]

I hope they do that. Aerith sounds better.

Spoiler

COME AT ME.

I agree but you know that would cause something.

 

[Loudninja]

Atleast Yoshida can understand.

Heck yes.

 

[fester]

So they're adding tons of new content then.

Adding all this new content while at the same time telling us there's too much content in the original FF7 to do in one game?

 

[Kasumin]

I'm still confused by some of the negative reactions and the Square Enix hate here.

For years they've been saying that an FFVII remake would be resource intensive. Fans ignored them and kept demanding it.

They finally give fans what they want, but hey, it's still resource intensive. So they had to compromise somehow. It sounds like they want to do the game justice and get it out earlier by breaking it up into episodes.

If they are stupid about how the episodes work, then fine, they deserve fan ire. But right now? They've given fans what they wanted. They have finite resources and they've said this over and over again.

The worst I can accuse them of is waiting for after the conference's hype trailer to announce this.

 

[KZXcellent]

Adding all this new content while at the same time telling us there's too much content in the original FF7 to do in one game?

It's too much content for one game so it's going to be multiple games. They are also adding content because they're doing multiple games.

I'm still confused by some of the negative reactions and the Square Enix hate here.

For years they've been saying that an FFVII remake would be resource intensive. Fans ignored them and kept demanding it.

They finally give fans what they want, but hey, it's still resource intensive. So they had to compromise somehow. It sounds like they want to do the game justice and get it out earlier by breaking it up into episodes.

If they are stupid about how the episodes work, then fine, they deserve fan ire. But right now? They've given fans what they wanted. They have finite resources and they've said this over and over again.

The worst I can accuse them of is waiting for after the conference's hype trailer to announce this.

Some people assume any explanation for why it's not one game is 100% just "We want more money." and just refuse to believe anything Square says. Many other people are still upset that the ATB battle system is out so this just piles onto that. This remake is gonna make people mad, it was going to from the start.

 

[Son Of D]

$40-$60/each, around 15-25 hours long per part. First part to come out January 31, 2017 (20th anniversary of the game's release in Japan).

I know it won't happen but it'd be nice if Chapter 2 released either 7th of September 2017 (20th anniversary of NA release) or 14th of November 2017 (20th anniversary of EU release).

Of course I doubt that unless things are going better than I expected development wise.

 

[fertygo]

Do you really believe that?

Or is that their marketing strategy talking?

There's no doubt this would've the most massive and expensive game production from japan company.

 

[anaron]

FF7 is too massive to remake.
that's why FF7-remake was treated as "Pandora's box"

where the hell is this idea that VII is too massive to remake come from? have any of you actually played the original?

 

[Arkeband]

Atleast Yoshida can understand.

Oh, well thank God that the suits that decided on the idea think it's a good idea. /s

 

[anaron]

Oh, well thank God that the suits that decided on the idea think it's a good idea. /s

LOL

 

[JeffZero]

where the hell is this idea that VII is too massive to remake come from? have any of you actually played the original?

Twelve times.

 

[ViolentP]

If it means covering all original content, I'll support it.

 

[DXLelouch153]

It can't get Stella levels of bad...

Spoiler

and then I remembered this is Final Fantasy VII

Of course I don't actually think they'll change anything that would give THAT much backlash. Aside from the combat system.

Japan would be burned to the ground over night if they removed the female characters
Tifa, Yuffie, and Aerith are too popular

 

[Koozek]

Vincent's backstory with Lucretia was pretty badass. Gimme some of dat expostion son

CC is almost a guarantee. I believe the devs were quoted as wanting to bring in more Zack at one point. Genesis is too important not to be added, regardless of whether you personally like him or not. Unless Gackt prevents it from happening for some reason.

About that, just remembered this post from Verendus after the E3 reveal in June. He was the one who has been teasing this remake since 2013 and also knew that it was some sort of compilation or multi-game project.

I'll just tell you some of what I know then. Boring, long post coming.

So when planning began a long time ago, there were several issues. It's a big game, it's very important to Kitase, and obviously Nomura, and fans. There were other issues here, but we'll just skip to the game. You're going to remake this game. Now, people will say that since there's already a story, music, script, that a lot of the work is done. This is wrong. You have a starting point, but this is very much like building a new game. That takes a very long time.

Since there's a huge difference in technology, and this is the remake of a game that exists, you have to go through, and address everything. You have to get the scenes, and then decide what you're going to do with them. Some stuff is pretty clear, and it's mostly about presentation. For example, nothing major storywise is being changed. No one has to worry about that. Cloud is still a nutcase, Aeris is still going to die, Weapons are going to run rampant, the Lifestream, and pretty much every important story moment is going to be present. That's FF7. You can't change that. But because this is a new generation of technology, and it's a proper game, that alone brings changes from a design point of view.

Now you have a balancing act of lots of small things, and lots of major things. Kitase, I can assure you, is someone who is quite involved in making sure they try to stay as faithful as possible. He's someone who worried the most originally about this project, and he's also someone who's heavily involved right now. And the original writer is back with Nomura too, so it's a big thing.

Let's use examples:

They want to integrate Zack more, so how do you do it? In the original, it's very much an optional thing, but that's not as realistic now. You can flesh it out too, but in order to integrate it, it needs to be placed somewhere. This is a technically a script change, but it's not a bad thing. It also takes work.
Characters like Yuffie and Vincent which are optional need to be integrated.
How do you tackle the implied sex scene in this game? This is going to be in the game, but it's another presentation issue. How do you do it this time, over two decades later?
How do you tackle Cloud beating the hell out of Aeris? It was fine then, but this needs to be thought about. It's kind of an important story beat for his character because of what happens next, so do you want to change it? But at the same time, is it something you're comfortable leaving in, or should it be altered a little?
A lot of the side story stuff, can it be integrated better, or will some of it have to be cut?
They need to change up the Junon infiltration a little. Red XIII being in a suit isn't that big of a deal, but the ship aspect needs to be worked on now because you have a parade, which then leads to boarding the ship, and the big boss battle. This area and sequence has to be overhauled. It's a good amount of work.

Everything related to the story needs to be addressed within the confines of the new game, and the presentation of that new game on current technology. This means going through all of that, and seeing how to fit in the important things, what to flesh out, and what to alter. Basically, you're designing everything again. There's something to work with, but it's much like creating something new due to the work it actually involves.

Separate to that, there are a lot of other things. There are a lot of mini-games in FF7, notably the snowboarding game, and also the Chocobo breeding. With the former, it doesn't make as much sense to have it happen like that, so you need to integrate it all again, but at the same time, you can still leave something as a nod for fans. How do you do this? Is it possible to do that? Then there is also the case of some stuff being replaced, and maybe Nomura wanting to add other mini-games.

Basically, it's a lot of work. They have to prioritise major things with minor things, and as time goes on, they'll probably have to do it again depending on the development progress. This doesn't mean they can't show you anything this winter. Far from it. They're at a place right now, where they have a little to show, but it's a big game, and it's still in its infancy. It's not as simple as if they have something to show, then they're really ahead of the game. They're not rushing this.

It's important to all of them to remain as faithful as possible, but at the same time, create a new FF7 for a new generation of fans as well as old, and something which takes advantage of what is available today. This means design changes, execution changes, alterations etc. And because you're not just creating something new, and have to keep in mind a beloved game, the cuts you decide to make, or the changes you decide to do, have to be careful. As time goes on, and more work is done, there'll probably be other changes too. It's also important that the creators create something that they're pleased with because this is a project that's going to take a lot of their investment, time, and effort. It's unfair to not give them a chance to show you their new vivion at least.

This game being announced right now isn't ideal. That wasn't the plan. This time last year, no one was thinking, "Hell yeah, let's announce FF7, and have fans wait a few years again! That's going to be great!"

But the problem is, PS4 isn't doing great in Japan. There are a bunch of issues, FFXV has taken longer than expected, and it's basically a crap situation to be in if I'm frank. So this announcement is there to build some faith, and also try to make people believe that there are a lot of big plans for the PS4. And there is a lot to come, but because of so many issues, it's taken time. Thankfully, since FFXV is around the corner, and KH3 is also progressing well, it's not that bad of a time really. Those games are coming soon, and this announcement happening now, as well as those games releasing should help fans believe more in companies trying their best to get content out there.

It also didn't help that FFXV had a bit of a negative shadow over it with people complaining last year when it was revealed Nomura has been removed, and then again recently when Tabata mentioned the changes. Now people know what Nomura is doing. There doesn't need to be doom and gloom over him leaving. He's busy, he's working on something. Leave him to it.

FFXV, also, can now be focused on as its own entity, and hopefully have people look at it as what it is rather than what they felt it could have been. And this game is actually coming soon, so there's something to be actually be excited for.

Ah so it is coming to the Xbox One down the line? Sony can't secure shit, the incompetence cobtinues. Great news for Xbox One only owners though, they deserve to play the game as much as PS4 and PC people.

Hey, hey.

It's not incompetence. As it stands, things are great for SCE. Game is in development, and it's coming to PS4. Securing a big game isn't that simple. Square Enix also has to take a look at a lot of things, and what makes sense for them at the end of the day, is what's most sensible. Considering how far we are, and the nature of these things, we can amend things in the future, if it makes sense. But regardless of any of that, SCE is going to benefit the most from this game. FF is a Playstation franchise. SCE will get behind this in a huge way, and the marketing campaign for it will be big too. Regardless of whatever ends up being the most sensible option, SCE has already benefitted the most.

Securing big games takes a lot of cash, and simply doing it to appease fans for something as silly as "bragging rights" would be pretty stupid. Depending on what's involved, that support could be provided to bring another game from somewhere. Regardless of any of that, it's coming to PS4 first. That much can be assured. Beyond that, it's mostly SE's decision. But people shouldn't buy too much into the whole it has to be on PS4 only or whatever, in case they end up being disappointed in the future, as if it's some kind of personal offence.

SCE is really happy with things as they are. I see no reason why others need to be upset about it.
Last edited by Verendus; 06-20-2015 at 06:37 PM.

 

[mullet2000]

where the hell is this idea that VII is too massive to remake come from? have any of you actually played the original?

Yeah, that's the part I don't really get. People are just accepting the idea that ffvii is too massive to be one game but I don't really see why compared to other games.

Not to mention the ideas that ffvii is way too big to be one game alongside the idea that they're going to add so much content to the game that it'll be three full length games kind of cancel each other out...

Like, don't get me wrong, it's a big project, but I don't see why it's so beyond the scope of, like, every other rpg in the last five years.

 

[ZombiePlatypus]

I'm still confused by some of the negative reactions and the Square Enix hate here.

For years they've been saying that an FFVII remake would be resource intensive. Fans ignored them and kept demanding it.

They finally give fans what they want, but hey, it's still resource intensive. So they had to compromise somehow. It sounds like they want to do the game justice and get it out earlier by breaking it up into episodes.

If they are stupid about how the episodes work, then fine, they deserve fan ire. But right now? They've given fans what they wanted. They have finite resources and they've said this over and over again.

The worst I can accuse them of is waiting for after the conference's hype trailer to announce this.

Some solid clarification that explains how they're dividing and packaging content, along with tangible, explicit communication regarding the overall scope of this project would be nice.

But don't drop a bomb like this and then be all "please be excited" without making any effort to alleviate warranted concerns among fans.

 

[Moonlight]

Of a full game, but not of the full game.

It's still shit.

There would be an entirely different problem if every new episode of FFVIIR were somehow as long as the original game in its' entirety.

 

[AstroNut325]

Atleast Yoshida can understand.

My thoughts line up with Yoshida's. I think the path SE chosen for FF7R is the best path. We will likely receive a much better product because of it.

 

[daniels]

Updated worldmap at least somewhat to scale/FF15, Backtracking, Highwind and Save transfer is now my wishlist

 

[fester]

I'm still confused by some of the negative reactions and the Square Enix hate here.

...

They finally give fans what they want..

That's where your confusion comes from. I can't speak for all fans, but they certainly haven't given me what I want, or even close. Dragon Quest V on PS2 was what I wanted. FFX on PS3 was what I wanted. A gutted combat system and a hacked up multi-part game isn't what I asked for and won't be something I'll buy.

 

[anaron]

can't wait for the trinity of trash that is AC, CC and DoC to infect the compilation of FFVII: Remake

 

[kevm3]

Will there be full towns or will it be that sort of linear corridor thing?

 

[Scrooge McDuck]

where the hell is this idea that VII is too massive to remake come from? have any of you actually played the original?

The original have cities with like five houses at most. That would not fly in today's expectation of a high budget RPG. Look at how big Final Fantasy XV's Duscae area is and consider that as the wasteland surrounding Midgar at the very least. That is what people are imagining when they say Final Fantasy VII is too massive.

 

[ZombiePlatypus]

Honestly I wish they didn't reveal this multi part detail about the game until they felt ready to disclose more detailed information.

As it stands, this put a real damper on things.

 

[Zyae]

My thoughts line up with Yoshida's. I think the path SE chosen for FF7R is the best path. We will likely receive a much better product because of it.

The spin is Unbelievable.

 

[Inuhanyou]

where the hell is this idea that VII is too massive to remake come from? have any of you actually played the original?

How would one go about creating even an entire city like Midgar 1:1...? Just ask yourself that.

It was easy in 1996 because they didn't have to worry about that. Just make a linear path of places and illustrate a bunch of non interactive art assets.

But we're talking about an entire city worth from just one part of the game here. And we already know that its probably not going to be an entire city in the remake either but the point is...even attempting something like that is gonna be a huge ass task in the third dimension.

 

[Yoshichan]

Please explain to me... with "all parts will have the size of a full game", do they mean each individual part will be like a full-game, or all episodes together will be a full game?

 

[DarkLordMalik]

Miyamoto quote, rushed game etc.

What is rushed if they focus on delivering it in chunks, polishing each to perfection?

Wait so is this confirmation that the game is indeed episodic as opposed to a multi part series ?

I doubt he was paying attention, just like the press isn't paying attention and rushing with the "episodic" part despite official press-release calling it multi-part.

The people who shitpost about 2026 release dates will just shitpost about "You're not playing the TRUE game" because it's in parts.

Well, you do have a point.

Oh, well thank God that the suits that decided on the idea think it's a good idea. /s

Yoshida is First Party. Adam Boyes or Gio Corsi would be more appropriate here.

I think Yoshida is hinting at TLG multi-part release

 

[KZXcellent]

Please explain to me... with "all parts will have the size of a full game", do they mean each individual part will be like a full-game, or all episodes together will be a full game?

Each part will be a full game and be priced that way. Like the .HACK series.

 

[ZombiePlatypus]

Please explain to me... with "all parts will have the size of a full game", do they mean each individual part will be like a full-game, or all episodes together will be a full game?

The fact that we're left with this kind of vague language is really annoying and concerning. Either they're awful at messaging and communication or they are beating around the bush for a reason.

 

[fertygo]

Honestly I wish they didn't reveal this multi part detail about the game until they felt ready to disclose more detailed information.

As it stands, this put a real damper on things.

May as well announce it early if people gonna got outraged either way.

Whatever they do only result that could convince people.

 

[Koozek]

Please explain to me... with "all parts will have the size of a full game", do they mean each individual part will be like a full-game, or all episodes together will be a full game?

Each one of them on its own will be like a full game.

 

[Inuhanyou]

Please explain to me... with "all parts will have the size of a full game", do they mean each individual part will be like a full-game, or all episodes together will be a full game?

Each individual part will equal a full sized game. They are gonna stick many tens of hours into each just with content.

Or atleast that's their goal. I think that part was communicated clearly, really no other way to take it.

 

[Reveirg]

So in the end, this is great news.

 

[Yoshichan]

Okay, as I thought then.

I don't know what I should be thinking right now. I just want to wake up in 20 years and see it all unveiled before me.

 

[kevm3]

Each episode better be at least 25 hours or so and there better be full towns and world map travel.

 

[Kasumin]

That's where your confusion comes from. I can't speak for all fans, but they certainly haven't given me what I want, or even close. Dragon Quest V on PS2 was what I wanted. FFX on PS3 was what I wanted. A gutted combat system and a hacked up multi-part game isn't what I asked for and won't be something I'll buy.

Uhhh, okay then...

I want a remake of SaGa Frontier with the content that was originally cut out of the first game on PSN and I know I'm not getting that, so um... grrr, I'm angry?

Why are you even in this thread? I was clearly talking about them giving the fans of FFVII what they wanted. What else would I even be talking about in this context?

Go start a new thread for the games you want, then. Yeesh.

Some solid clarification that explains how they're dividing and packaging content, along with tangible, explicit communication regarding the overall scope of this project would be nice.

But don't drop a bomb like this and then be all "please be excited" without making any effort to alleviate warranted concerns among fans.

A clearer explanation seems to be forthcoming, and more info regarding that is coming out as we speak. The game is still early in development. I don't think even they know what the full scope of the project will be at this point. Which kind of worries me, but that's besides the point.

I guess I'm so used to Bamco's flat out lies or silence when it comes to the Tales of series that Square Enix being so out front about these things strikes me as amazing for a Japanese developer. I suppose other people's expectations are different.

Some people assume any explanation for why it's not one game is 100% just "We want more money." and just refuse to believe anything Square says. Many other people are still upset that the ATB battle system is out so this just piles onto that. This remake is gonna make people mad, it was going to from the start.

This kind of inevitable reaction is part of the reason I didn't want a remake in the first place. But once they announced it, I figured it was something worth anticipating. If it turns out to be a dud, then so be it. They don't get me money. But right now it's just hype and I can't really get mad at hype. People like to speculate until they're blue in the face and get angry about matters that are still very much up in the air. I don't really have the energy or time for that these days. Between now and whenever FFVII's remake releases, there are plenty of other games for me to remake. Whether I get mad or not, the game will be released in the future.

I'll admit that I'll miss traditional ATB, though. But expectations among players are far different now than they were in the 1990s.

 

[Arkeband]

Each part will be a full game and be priced that way. Like the .HACK series.

.Hack could have easily fit on one PS2 disc. You could beat any one of them in ~10-12 hours.

.G.U. was a little bit longer for each disc but not much.

 

[anaron]

The original have cities with like five houses at most. That would not fly in today's expectation of a high budget RPG. Look at how big Final Fantasy XV's Duscae area is and consider that as the area between Midgar and Kalm at the very least. That is what people are imagining when they say Final Fantasy VII is too massive.

Most of VII's towns are small villages. Like, you expand the amount of houses and let the player walk around more areas and that should be enough, there's no reason to make them into giant explorable cities anyway unless to appeal to a bunch of people who don't like the original...oh wait.

 

[BlazingDarkness]

lol, this is precisely what I was trying to say yesterday, and got called out for being a SE 'apologist'.

SE never used the word 'episodic', they said 'separate works' and 'entries' which was clearly referring to more than on game, i.e a trilogy. But most people clung onto this 'episodic' notion and thought it would be episodic DLC like a Telltale game.

Instead of one game for the FFVII remake, we are getting multiple. Thus the plot, the world, and the characters will be more detailed than ever before.