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[Zukuu]

Where would you place the end of game 1?

Aeris scene.

 

[DrunkShogun]

I got a feeling we are going to get a whole lot more zack. Could see flashback missions occurring.

 

[aitakute]

I know we're talking about FF7 Remake but what the hell is going on in FF7 DC's secret ending? Will they ever make a sequel out of that? Is that Genesis?

 

[Zoe]

I wouldn't. If they've spent nigh on over two years and all we get is Midgar then I'd be extremely sceptical that they know what they are doing or that it will be ever finished. If buy this time they dont even have the world map or any locations beyond Midgar. You'd have to wait another two years for the continuation, and finishing at Midgar would mean I wouldn't know the tone of the game. Leaving Midgar was an amazing moment and to leave that as To Be Continued would be a very sour taste. Personally before I buy any of these games I want to know how and if they are going to do the world map.

With just Midgar as the first episode it would likely be a ten plus year project. And I'd be sceptical if they are ever going to finish it. I mean what if it doesnt sell as well as they expect, it's not a guaranteed Bank. I wouldn't buy it if it's just Midgar, and I mean are they sure many people are going to buy it in the first place?

A lot of the development time has probably been focused on the mechanics and logistics. Splitting up the game seems to be more about the assets and scenarios.

Development should go faster for the other parts because the core of the game will already be complete.

 

[Plywood]

I wonder how or if they'll gate character progression per installment, from materias, limits, levels, etc.

 

[Pagusas]

I really wish he'd calm peoples nerve by saying something like "we know you are worried this will ruin the gameplay flow, please rest assured your progress, items and stats will all carry over between each episode, and we will balance things correctly so you cant ruin the game by overplaying episode 1 too much"

Basically them saying they are treating these as separate games has me worried that each episode is basically resetting everything stat/materia/item wise (like Mass Effect) instead of one giant cohesive experience.

 

[-Ryn]

I got a feeling we are going to get a whole lot more zack. Could see flashback missions occurring.

Yeeeeeessss.

On the note of Zack, I think it would be cool if we had a (playable?) redo of the Crisis Core ending. Combining elements of the epic last stand with the abrupt tragedy of the original.

I always thought the explanation for the difference being that the original ending was skewed by Cloud's perspective was a nice touch, but it would be nice if we could get a version that toned down the uh... narm(?) of having "Why" blaring in the background and Angel feathers everywhere. Just make it heroic tragedy.

 

[Pagusas]

heres a big question, as they have redesigned Barrat and likely many other characters, is it fair to assume Advent Children is no longer canon? That would be nice.

 

[-Ryn]

heres a big question, as they have redesigned Barrat and likely many other characters, is it fair to assume Advent Children is no longer canon? That would be nice.

Doubt it. Unless by fair you mean as fair as treating any other fan theory as canon

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

I don't really see how Zack flashbacks would work since they are dependent on the late game plot developments. Either it's stuff that's not really relevant to the plot of 7 itself, such as the Genesis/ Angeal stuff, or it's the stuff that feeds into 7 but that's mostly related to Aeris, in which case how do they tie that to the characters?

 

[davepoobond]

I don't really see how Zack flashbacks would work since they are dependent on the late game plot developments. Either it's stuff that's not really relevant to the plot of 7 itself, such as the Genesis/ Angeal stuff, or it's the stuff that feeds into 7 but that's mostly related to Aeris, in which case how do they tie that to the characters?

they probably have a lot of room to work with where you actually discover Zack. there was a bit of an arc there that could definitely be fleshed out, so doing more flashbacky stuff there would work out.

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

I'll spoiler this just in case.

Spoiler

You can't really bring Zack into the picture until after the relevation that Cloud was just an ordinary Shinra grunt and his tales of being a Soldier first class was him assuming parts of Zack's identity. Otherwise it undermines Cloud's betrayal and breakdown.

Outside of that the only character who would have a strong enough connection to Zack to anchor any flashbacks in the events of 7 is Aeris, who is dead by the time the truth about Cloud comes out.

Maybe during the bit in Cloud's broken psyche they could expand the flashbacks of what really happened with playable Zack sections, but it would only make sense to keep to the ones that were already in the game.

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

FINAL FANTASY VII Remake | PSX 2015 | Message from Yoshinori Kitase
http://na.square-enix.com/us/blog/final-fantasy-vii-remake-psx-2015-message-yoshinori-kitase

"For many years, people around the world have asked me “Will you ever remake FINAL FANTASY VII?” For many years I gave the same answers and on a personal level, having made the original FINAL FANTASY VII, did I really want to spend so many years making the same game again?
With FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE, we have the opportunity to go beyond the story, world and experience of FINAL FANTASY VII in ways we’ve always dreamed of - from the depths of Midgar to the skies above the Planet. The multi-part format enables us to expand the original story and turn it into an epic experience for fans and new gamers alike.

This past weekend at PlayStation Experience we were thrilled to present more of FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE. It was great to see so much excitement when we surprised everyone with the first gameplay footage and it was a treat for us to show that development is going well, and further along than perhaps many had realised. Just like when we revealed the announcement trailer at E3 earlier this year, we like surprising you.
One thing that we wanted to be clear about during this weekend to accompany the new trailer was the scale of this project. We wanted to tell you this now and not in the future so that you’d share our vision for what we want to deliver.
The biggest reason why we haven’t done a remake until now is because it’s a massive undertaking to reconstruct FINAL FANTASY VII from the ground up with the current technology. Producing a proper HD remake of FINAL FANTASY VII that maintains the same feeling of density of the original would result in a volume of content that couldn’t possibly fit into one instalment.
We’ve seen everyone’s comments and reactions to the news that FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE will be a multi-part series and many have speculated correctly as to the reason why we have made this decision. If we were to try to fit everything from the original into one remake instalment, we would have to cut various parts and create a condensed version of FINAL FANTASY VII. We knew none of you would have wanted that.
I hope that by explaining a little more about our design decisions that you can appreciate the size of this project and what we have planned for this remake. Going beyond the scale and depth of the world, narrative and gameplay from the original to deliver something that feels familiar yet new. As I said before, we like delivering surprises.

See you all soon and Happy Holidays!
Yoshinori Kitase"​

there ain't no getting off of this train we on!

 

[Calabi]

A lot of the development time has probably been focused on the mechanics and logistics. Splitting up the game seems to be more about the assets and scenarios.

Development should go faster for the other parts because the core of the game will already be complete.

Well yeah, but assets are the majority of developer time. If their focusing the majority of the first game on extending and creating assets to increase Midgars content then the rest will not go quicker. They will either have to or want to extend that content as well or maybe even cut it short because there is much more content outside Midgar than in. It has a lot of quirky unique content, and mini games, stuff which isnt easy to create, they said it themselves.

But I dont know, we dont know how they are doing it. But if Midgar is the full first game then that is a big red warning flag to me.

 

[Falk]

I'm most anxious about music implementation to be honest.

Like coming out of blowing up one of the reactors straight into 'Anxious Heart'. Running around the city streets and slums with it hauntingly playing in the background.

Heck most of Midgar could be defined by that track, it played across the place.

I hope they don't kill that vibe.

So I said I'd respond to this.

First of all, as ever, let me preface that I'm not confirming or denying anything. Video Game Orchestra has indeed done many Square Enix games in the past, but unless anything has been announced about any specific game, just assume it's like Schrodinger's Cat and indefinite/undetermined.

Hence, I'm not confirming or denying that anyone, myself included, are involved with the project. Entire post is basically my opinion, nothing more, nothing less. Any of my examples posted in the thread are not related to any commercial project and are my own hobbyist stuff.

First up, I'll quote myself from the Uematsu thread. (Keep in mind this was before the PSX gameplay trailer)

Here comes another falk tl;dr.

(Prefacing this with another disclaimer that I am not discussing FFVIIr's development workings at all, but drawing from my own existing experiences with other projects that already are released as commercial games, interspersed with my own opinions. Sorry, too many people have quoted me out of context that I pretty much need to drop these disclaimers, heh)

Well yeah, I think we can all agree that for the case of an updated arrangement for use in a game in the same context, e.g. as boss music keeping the feel the same feel/genre is paramount.

You're probably referring to the AC version of Still More Fighting, where the beginning riff isn't identical, and then it goes into techno. The intention of the music there is completely different. AC isn't supposed to be a spruced up version of Final Fantasy 7. The arrangement there isn't supposed to be a 1:1 faithful-to-original.

Another example that's been brought up in this thread is orchestrated Man with the Machine Gun. I think a lot of people simply are getting confused between 'arrangement' and 'orchestration' as I mentioned previously in the thread. The two aren't synonymous. The whole point of an orchestration, is to make the music playable by an orchestra in a live concert setting. Obviously it's not going to sound like the original, and obviously the intention for that was never to be used in a game, nor is it supposed to function as a 'HD version' or 'modern version' of the track.

Square Enix has had multiple HD remakes in multiple franchises, of which the soundtracks were touched up to varying degrees. You don't see the genres jump that much (even in the context of the 'controversial' FFX-HD music remaster, which I think the rearrangements are stellar, but that's another topic altogether).

If anything, the feel of the tracks for games that are meant to be the an updated version of the game are kept intact. These projects generally get overseen by the original composers as well. We had Yoko Shimomura signing off on every single track in the KH collections.

Also diving a little deeper into the nostalgia factor (Sorry, it does need to be said), the original tracks simply resonate a different way with different people. I'll just use myself as an example. There's an tinny, lo-fi quality to the chime synths used in Anxious Heart that I associate with the desolation of the scenes that use that track in the original FF7. Other people might not pick up on that. Some people might simply like the formant-y, chuggy, disjointed sound of the electric guitars of the PSX sound chip belting out Still More Fighting. You're simply not going to get that effect with real guitars.

There's a difference between keeping the feel of a track and paying utmost respect to the original when updating their sounds, and fulfilling every attachment that every single fan has ever had with the original. The former is and should always be a priority. The latter is a practical impossibility.

All that being said, FF7r really is on a remake scale that's unprecedented for Square Enix. At this point, anyone from the outside looking in really doesn't have enough information to make a call on what fits and what doesn't. For all you know, even updated versions of the tracks, faithfully recreated 1:1 with modern techniques, might not fit the overall aesthetic, since the original game is really a very charming cross between hyper-gritty and super-deformed aesthetic inherent to that early 3D era in gaming.

I think that all the assertions that the music is going to be shit just because, or that they aren't going to fit, or that Square Enix are 'going to screw it up', are really rather premature.

I whipped this up really, really briefly (an hour lol) to make a couple of points (I did this by ear, not using the MIDI data from the PC version, so there are some minor differences):

https://soundcloud.com/falk-2/anxious/s-eEY95

This is what Anxious Heart sounds like with "modern VSTs" (but without live players). Some places, the over-realistic sounds actually clash with the very simple arrangement. (Those chimes/celesta combo really could use some harmonic backing). It actually does go back to the era observation where a lot of the narrative is abstracted by the low-polygon graphics inherent to the era the original 1997 game comes from. The same thing happens on the music side - a lot of the musical content is abstracted by the simpler PSX sounds. When you bring up the quality to modern standards, you find that some things can be lacking, similar to how a hi-polygon Cloud via mods on FF7 PC looks... hilariously awkward because of the original animation.

Point number one being: Even in a remaster situation (i.e. less elaborate than FF7r), sticking 1:1, especially depending on the context of the game, can lead to an objectively inferior result. Sometimes (oftentimes, really) the music needs to be adapted. I think everyone agrees that the Distant Worlds version of Bombing used for the FF7r trailers thus far fit really, really well. That wasn't a 1:1 adaptation of the original, either.

That being said, speaking as a professional who has done soundtrack work on multiple remasters, the nuance and intention of the original tracks should be preserved wherever it makes sense. In a lot of FF7's case, articulation of the music is important. Because of the original sequenced format, much of the material sounds, for a lack of a better word, 'disjointed'. Real musicians playing (string section especially) do -not- sound like that when they play naturally. This effect CAN be simulated by live players, but they need to be instructed to do so.

TaQ of ongaq makes a very similar observation here w.r.t KH1.5's soundtrack remaster

TaQ: In RPGs, the battle music is probably what you hear the most often. Battle music is often written loaded with staccato phrases to raise tension for the player, I believe. But, orchestra instruments are not designed to burst out strong, loud sounds by nature. Because of this, if you perform using the pure classical playing style, it will sound nice, but it won't have that aggressive feel. As I actually personally started with electronic music, I investigated with gaQdan into how to bring out that aggressive feel on stringed instruments. There are ways of playing that bring colour into the sound, and ways of playing that bring out a sensation of speed... we built experience with many variations of play styles.

While we're not exactly dealing with battle music here, the same issue persists - if we want the players to clearly articulate each note, rather than let them legato naturally, it's a conscious decision. This is also what I did with the mockup I threw together - the strings all stop momentarily before playing the next note, simulating the feel of the original.

Point number two being, live doesn't automatically mean it's going to sound drastically different.

I think these two points, you really, really need to keep in mind when you ponder on the original FF7 music and how it might work in the remaster. How it sounds exactly in the original is irrelevant. What's important are the emotions it evokes, and how it supports the game (which might inherently be different, remember how much the visuals, camera angles, heck, even pacing due to voiceover work are different from the original game)

==============

Also with all that aside, I think there's a way to reconcile the nostalgia factor with the need to make changes to the music. (remember, this isn't related to FF7r which I need to mention again that I'm neither confirming nor denying anything)

For remasters, I'd personally like to see what I call a two-loop system. The first loop adheres as much to the original as possible with updated sounds (live or otherwise), and the subsequent second loop does whatever arrangement changes deemed necessary to make the music better. In-game, you have the option to pick "original" (unaltered music from the original game), "classic" (plays only the first loop of the new soundtrack, i.e. conservative) or "modern" (plays through both loops before repeating, which means the new changes kick in if the music plays longer)

An example I whipped up out of FF8's Galbadia music a while back:

https://soundcloud.com/falk-2/8hdt-2-09/s-Lj9t5

(Stick around to the second loop to see what I'm talking about)

Yeah, this is a little bit of a tangent, but while we're discussing music vs nostalgia factor vs modern implementation, why not.

 

[Celcius]

Nice, now that I know why they're going the multi-part route, I'm back riding shotgun in the hype-train

 

[Rising_Hei]

isn't Jenova just a cosmic parasite, essentially? Not sure she/it has a home planet.

I just think it's stealth confirmation (from our pov) that Highwind/flying will be in. Use the chats with Avalance for XV as a launch pad for migrating that tech to UE4.

It is not an stealth confirmation

For anyone that don't know

Spoiler

we go into the space @ Cid's rocket, but not very far away from the planet, and very briefly

 

[Icyflamez96]

I hope they release renders of some of the the main cast soon.

 

[Boogiepop]

I am way, waaaay late to this thread as I was away from the internet since this was announced, and it's way too huge to dig through properly. But the big question I'm having from the trailer is do we have any better details, or is that every bit as action RPG-y as it looks? Super disappointed with the way that looked (as in how it seemed to be playing, not graphically of course).

 

[Inuhanyou]

I am way, waaaay late to this thread as I was away from the internet since this was announced, and it's way too huge to dig through properly. But the big question I'm having from the trailer is do we have any better details, or is that every bit as action RPG-y as it looks? Super disappointed with the way that looked (as in how it seemed to be playing, not graphically of course).

Kitase-san has said that its action RPG based, but there's still strategy and not as full out action as it seems just at first glance. Take that however you want

 

[Yabberwocky]

So I said I'd respond to this.

Thanks for the fantastic write-up, Falk, it was a really interesting read.

 

[Croyles]

-

Excellent, first class post. I am no musician but I always thought full orchestral pieces sounded weird when replacing some of the more bass heavy sounds of the early console era, especially battle themes as you stated, even if they are absolutely gorgeous for other styles.
I would really like to see a mix between orchestral and synth heavy (for lack of a better word because I don't know the nomenclature) tracks. I don't mean swapping between the two from track to track but maybe a way of combing them.

Your point about non arranged but "updated" pieces likely being out of place really resonated with me too.

 

[DXLelouch153]

im gonna replay FF7 with mods after i finish New Order +DLC
i remember hardly anything and im due for a refresher course since the remakes coming now

 

[Falk]

Excellent, first class post. I am no musician but I always thought full orchestral pieces sounded weird when replacing some of the more bass heavy sounds of the early console era, especially battle themes as you stated, even if they are absolutely gorgeous for other styles.

Hahaha, forgot one addendum I actually meant to add. Something that I can actually say I did was the engineering and production work of KH2.5's One Winged Angel.

It's an interesting case study, since it's a slightly rearranged (mostly in the horns - the KH2.5 version was orchestrated by Shota Nakama) yet faithful version of the original KH2 track, which is in turn a rearranged/abridged version of the original 1997 version. Which means it's both a conservative arrangement and yet a risky arrangement at the same time.

It's orchestral, and it works.

 

[Icyflamez96]

GameXplain posted an analysis video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWZ0uEIwPHA

 

[Meccanical]

Beautiful arrangement of Anxious Hearts there Falk.

 

[MCD]

Wonder if they will add a new playable character.

 

[ciD_Vain]

Wonder if they will add a new playable character.

I hope we can take control of sephiroth during the flashbacks

 

[The Sum of Zero]

I know we're talking about FF7 Remake but what the hell is going on in FF7 DC's secret ending? Will they ever make a sequel out of that? Is that Genesis?

A few days late but no one answered you so:

Yes that's Genesis.

 

[8bitForLife]

I just don't believe the reasoning behind splitting it up. My opinion they just want to charge full price for each episode. Release the game on 2 blurays if its that big.

 

[Dame]

They want to serialize what was a standalone rpg?
It's hard to believe that it's just development costs making this decision. Disappointing news. Very disappointing. Was a let-down enough they didn't have any faith in the regular turn-based fighting system nobody asked to change, but having ff vii broken up into parts is a concern.

I really hope my pessimism is clouding my judgment. This thing looks gorgeous otherwise.

 

[Inuhanyou]

I just don't believe the reasoning behind splitting it up. My opinion they just want to charge full price for each episode. Release the game on 2 blurays if its that big.

We already know its going to be full price. They are not 'episodes'. Its not an episodic series.

They are entirely different games spread out across different arcs, only held together by the overall FF7 story.

Its like Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2,or Dot Hack Volumes

 

[encephalon]

There's nothing about the word "episode" that should mean it has to be short, even if the word is often used to describe brief portions of a story with a staggered release or something like that. Xenogears is a single "episode." The star wars movies are "episodes."

I just don't believe the reasoning behind splitting it up. My opinion they just want to charge full price for each episode. Release the game on 2 blurays if its that big.

They aren't alluding to bluray space.

 

[MogCakes]

Its like Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2,or Dot Hack Volumes

I'd wager a vast majority of this forum has neither played nor heard of these games and that makes me sad.

 

[KZXcellent]

I know we're talking about FF7 Remake but what the hell is going on in FF7 DC's secret ending? Will they ever make a sequel out of that? Is that Genesis?

They'll probably never revisit the Genesis stuff in FF7 due to issues with Gackt, the music artist who Genesis is based off of. Dirge of Cerberus has random "G-Files" throughout the game that talked about Genesis and even a NPC on Cid's Airship talks about a mysterious "G." When that secret ending came out there wasn't much to go off of aside from the obvious sequel hook. It was later we got Crisis Core where we get to see who Genesis actually is. By the end of Crisis Core we get to see why he would even be in DoC and what his connection with Weiss and Deepground is. To be honest I'm pretty sad the Compilation never got one more game. I know many equate the FFVII Compilation titles with the Star Wars prequels, but I found them all to be fun and interesting. I would have loved a PS3 game to come out back then that closed out this plot.

 

[show me your skeleton]

the golden saucer is an absolute nightmare, aesthetically. also what idiot built it so the only way you could visit is to go through that shitdump that is corel town?

 

[DiipuSurotu]

the golden saucer is an absolute nightmare, aesthetically. also what idiot built it so the only way you could visit is to go through that shitdump that is corel town?

According to the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega[1], Corel was the location where Shinra originally discovered Mako energy. The townspeople were hired to build a reactor, but after Shinra discovered the Mako energy's infinite potential, they decided to destroy the town so the top secret information on Mako Reactors' structure would not be leaked to rival companies.

.

 

[show me your skeleton]

.

i get that but, if you're wealthy enough to be able to visit the gold saucer, you'd really despise having to walk through corel to get there. why haven't they built a nicer entrance? dumb shinra.

 

[Falk]

Propaganda. Rich kids visiting Gold Saucer will get the impression everywhere else is a shithole and be content living in Midgar.

 

[BreakAtmo]

They'll probably never revisit the Genesis stuff in FF7 due to issues with Gackt, the music artist who Genesis is based off of. Dirge of Cerberus has random "G-Files" throughout the game that talked about Genesis and even a NPC on Cid's Airship talks about a mysterious "G." When that secret ending came out there wasn't much to go off of aside from the obvious sequel hook. It was later we got Crisis Core where we get to see who Genesis actually is. By the end of Crisis Core we get to see why he would even be in DoC and what his connection with Weiss and Deepground is. To be honest I'm pretty sad the Compilation never got one more game. I know many equate the FFVII Compilation titles with the Star Wars prequels, but I found them all to be fun and interesting. I would have loved a PS3 game to come out back then that closed out this plot.

I wouldn't be shocked if we do get some kind of sequel, even without Genesis. After FFVIIR is done, S-E will likely have a complete version of the story's setting that could be re-used in a sequel. They can release FFVIIR in the separate parts for PS4, then port the combined version to PS5, then use that as a foundation for FFVII-2 for PS5.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

They could always bullshit their way out of the Gackt likeness and say Genesis changed his appearance using newfound power after his awakening or something.

 

[celsowmbr]

I just don't believe the reasoning behind splitting it up. My opinion they just want to charge full price for each episode. Release the game on 2 blurays if its that big.

the problem is not the size of data because the original ff7 was "splitted" thanks to the CGs videos (with the video compression tech of 1997)

 

[BreakAtmo]

the problem is not the size of data because the original ff7 was "splitted" thanks to the CGs videos (with the video compression tech of 1997)

Yeah, I think I saw someone say that the actual game portion of FFVII is like 200MB.

 

[Y2Kev]

If they're going to do anything in Midgar to make the game fit with Crisis Core, they need to work on establishing Loveless as some important text in the game's world. Otherwise Genesis is literally some wackjob quoting a badly written off-Broadway play that should have no religious or spiritual significance.

 

[BlackJimmy]

They'll probably never revisit the Genesis stuff in FF7 due to issues with Gackt, the music artist who Genesis is based off of. Dirge of Cerberus has random "G-Files" throughout the game that talked about Genesis and even a NPC on Cid's Airship talks about a mysterious "G." When that secret ending came out there wasn't much to go off of aside from the obvious sequel hook. It was later we got Crisis Core where we get to see who Genesis actually is. By the end of Crisis Core we get to see why he would even be in DoC and what his connection with Weiss and Deepground is. To be honest I'm pretty sad the Compilation never got one more game. I know many equate the FFVII Compilation titles with the Star Wars prequels, but I found them all to be fun and interesting. I would have loved a PS3 game to come out back then that closed out this plot.

I'm hoping this breaking up into parts thing they're doing will give them a chance to squeeze in some of the plots from the compilation, so they can retcon Gackt out of it. From what I gather, which isn't much I'll admit, his involvement has only caused problems.

 

[MCD]

Since this is a remake, they should cut all ties with anything made after the original game. Start fresh, start new.

 

[Jacethemindtaker]

I'm probably the only person who thought that looked terrible - granted it's in a really rough state and the VO is probably only for the trailer but, yeah no. Not for me. I'll stick with my memories thanks.

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

So I said I'd respond to this.

First of all, as ever, let me preface that I'm not confirming or denying anything. Video Game Orchestra has indeed done many Square Enix games in the past, but unless anything has been announced about any specific game, just assume it's like Schrodinger's Cat and indefinite/undetermined.

Hence, I'm not confirming or denying that anyone, myself included, are involved with the project. Entire post is basically my opinion, nothing more, nothing less. Any of my examples posted in the thread are not related to any commercial project and are my own hobbyist stuff.

First up, I'll quote myself from the Uematsu thread. (Keep in mind this was before the PSX gameplay trailer)



I whipped this up really, really briefly (an hour lol) to make a couple of points (I did this by ear, not using the MIDI data from the PC version, so there are some minor differences):

https://soundcloud.com/falk-2/anxious/s-eEY95

This is what Anxious Heart sounds like with "modern VSTs" (but without live players). Some places, the over-realistic sounds actually clash with the very simple arrangement. (Those chimes/celesta combo really could use some harmonic backing). It actually does go back to the era observation where a lot of the narrative is abstracted by the low-polygon graphics inherent to the era the original 1997 game comes from. The same thing happens on the music side - a lot of the musical content is abstracted by the simpler PSX sounds. When you bring up the quality to modern standards, you find that some things can be lacking, similar to how a hi-polygon Cloud via mods on FF7 PC looks... hilariously awkward because of the original animation.

Point number one being: Even in a remaster situation (i.e. less elaborate than FF7r), sticking 1:1, especially depending on the context of the game, can lead to an objectively inferior result. Sometimes (oftentimes, really) the music needs to be adapted. I think everyone agrees that the Distant Worlds version of Bombing used for the FF7r trailers thus far fit really, really well. That wasn't a 1:1 adaptation of the original, either.

That being said, speaking as a professional who has done soundtrack work on multiple remasters, the nuance and intention of the original tracks should be preserved wherever it makes sense. In a lot of FF7's case, articulation of the music is important. Because of the original sequenced format, much of the material sounds, for a lack of a better word, 'disjointed'. Real musicians playing (string section especially) do -not- sound like that when they play naturally. This effect CAN be simulated by live players, but they need to be instructed to do so.

TaQ of ongaq makes a very similar observation here w.r.t KH1.5's soundtrack remaster


While we're not exactly dealing with battle music here, the same issue persists - if we want the players to clearly articulate each note, rather than let them legato naturally, it's a conscious decision. This is also what I did with the mockup I threw together - the strings all stop momentarily before playing the next note, simulating the feel of the original.

Point number two being, live doesn't automatically mean it's going to sound drastically different.

I think these two points, you really, really need to keep in mind when you ponder on the original FF7 music and how it might work in the remaster. How it sounds exactly in the original is irrelevant. What's important are the emotions it evokes, and how it supports the game (which might inherently be different, remember how much the visuals, camera angles, heck, even pacing due to voiceover work are different from the original game)

==============

Also with all that aside, I think there's a way to reconcile the nostalgia factor with the need to make changes to the music. (remember, this isn't related to FF7r which I need to mention again that I'm neither confirming nor denying anything)

For remasters, I'd personally like to see what I call a two-loop system. The first loop adheres as much to the original as possible with updated sounds (live or otherwise), and the subsequent second loop does whatever arrangement changes deemed necessary to make the music better. In-game, you have the option to pick "original" (unaltered music from the original game), "classic" (plays only the first loop of the new soundtrack, i.e. conservative) or "modern" (plays through both loops before repeating, which means the new changes kick in if the music plays longer)

An example I whipped up out of FF8's Galbadia music a while back:

https://soundcloud.com/falk-2/8hdt-2-09/s-Lj9t5

(Stick around to the second loop to see what I'm talking about)

Yeah, this is a little bit of a tangent, but while we're discussing music vs nostalgia factor vs modern implementation, why not.

Wow, thanks for this very thoughtful write-up! Sorry it took me a few days to notice it.

I absolutely love what you mocked up, would say it hits me harder than the original and other takes on 'Anxious Heart', that I've come across.

You have successfully convinced me that live doesn't mean it cannot retain the feelings of the original, haha.

 

[IrishMick]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned already, but this cover of Fight On/Still More Fighting is absolutely epic and so true to the original. This for me would be an ideal reworking of the boss fight music, because it keeps the original feel while still being modern and frickin awesome!

It's getting me hyped for the remake just listening to this

 

[show me your skeleton]

Propaganda. Rich kids visiting Gold Saucer will get the impression everywhere else is a shithole and be content living in Midgar.

falk you genius.
to be fair the rest of the world is a shit hole, nowhere else can you watch the hit production 'loveless'!