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[Rentahamster]

In fact in the base game you don't even rely on itens that heavily to begin with outside of the very early parts of the game

I'm not talking about the base game though, I'm talking about hard mode and its relevance there.

I did

Not specifically, no.

I'm also trying to keep the discussion centered around general game design principles and objectives, not necessarily our own personal approaches to the game.

 

[Dacon]

I'm not talking about the base game though, I'm talking about hard mode and its relevance there.

I literally said that to drive home the point that I was making about hard mode.

Items have never made or broken the difficulty of any major boss fight in FF history, outside of neat gimmicks like phoenix downs killing undead.

 

[Rentahamster]

I literally said that to drive home the point that I was making about hard mode.

Yes I know, but that doesn't address the point that one mode is supposed to be "normal", and the other is supposed to be "hard".

 

[Dacon]

Yes I know, but that doesn't address the point that one mode is supposed to be "normal", and the other is supposed to be "hard".

What?

The entire post was about making those points about hard mode, as I said driving home the point I was making about hard mode.

 

[Rentahamster]

What?

The entire post was about making those points about hard mode, as I said driving home the point I was making about hard mode.

Then why say this?

In fact in the base game you don't even rely on itens that heavily to begin with outside of the very early parts of the game,

 

[Lethal01]

I didn't make any more use of materia or abilities in hard mode than I did outside of normal mode. In fact, hard mode only caused me to double down on the same stuff I was already doing.

That's great, But tons of people do just plow through the game without thinking to deep about those mechanics. You didn't, but the option to do so is often there due to item use. Banning items forces you to. Just like building around the max level stop you from just overpowering the bosses by grinding.

Items don't break the game, but they do make many parts of it easier.

 

[Dacon]

Then why say this?

Dude read the rest of the post. The entire point is that items aren't even a crutch in the normal mode, theyre a supplementary mechanic.

 

[Rentahamster]

Dude read the rest of the post.

I did read the post.

The entire point is that items aren't even a crutch in the normal mode, theyre a supplementary mechanic.

That's why I said this:

I'm not talking about the base game though, I'm talking about hard mode and its relevance there.

that doesn't address the point that one mode is supposed to be "normal", and the other is supposed to be "hard".

If you got through normal mode by not relying heavily on items, that doesn't say anything about hard mode since the enemies are harder too.

 

[Dacon]

I did read the post.


That's why I said this:




If you got through normal mode by not relying heavily on items, that doesn't say anything about hard mode since the enemies are harder too.

Then you're not really understanding what I'm writing here. If items aren't useful enough in normal mode to dictate their use over the other mechanics, then why would they in hard mode?

That's the point, that's why I said all that to illustrate my point.

 

[Rentahamster]

If items aren't useful enough in normal mode to dictate their use over the other mechanics, then why would they in hard mode?

Because hard mode enemies hit harder, and do worse things to you, thus increasing the need for damage mitigation and healing.

Normal mode and hard mode are different. What you said applies more to normal mode and less to hard mode.

 

[Dacon]

Because hard mode enemies hit harder, and do worse things to you, thus increasing the need for damage mitigation and healing.

Normal mode and hard mode are different. What you said applies more to normal mode and less to hard mode.

If enemies are harder in hard mode that exacerbates the issues I pointed out with the use of items in normal mode more in the hard mode.

If it's better to just use abilities and material in normal mode, why would it be better to use items in hard mode? They won't suddenly be more useful, potions will still heal less than spells and abilities, and ethers will still restore the same paltry amount of mp.

The only things that will really make a difference, are elixirs and turbo ethers which are a rarity.

 

[Rentahamster]

If enemies are harder in hard mode that exacerbates the issues I pointed out with the use of items in normal mode more in the hard mode.

Not in the way you're thinking.

If it's better to just use abilities and material in normal mode, why would it be better to use items in hard mode?

Well, you can't use prayer and chakra outside of battle for one. Nor can you use Soul Drain or MP-absorb.

The only things that will really make a difference, are elixirs and turbo ethers which are a rarity.

In-battle, to an extent. But what about outside of battle?

 

[Dacon]

Not in the way you're

How.

you can't use prayer and chakra outside of battle for one. Nor can you use Soul Drain or MP-absorb.

You don't need to. A character with high magic and a lot of mp and magnify can top everyone off easily with a normal cure spell. Mp which you easily get back from shards.

 

[Rentahamster]

You don't need to. A character with high magic and a lot of mp and magnify can top everyone off easily with a normal cure spell.

Now

A: Can you do that each time after sustaining damage in multiple battles over time while maintaining max MP without having to reload trash mobs to suck their MP or save/load cheese Shinra boxes?

B: Would you have needed to do that if you could just heal your HP/MP with potions and ethers after each fight?

 

[Dacon]

A: Can you do that each time after sustaining damage in multiple battles over time while maintaining max MP without having to reload trash mobs to suck their MP or save/load cheese Shinra boxes?

You don't have to. You don't even need to maintain max mp. You can get through most areas pretty well and still maintain high enough mp for every end boss. Esp if you stack mp up on your mages.

B: Would you have needed to do that if you could just heal your HP/MP with potions and ethers after each fight?

ce
No, the point is it hardly makes a difference to force you to do that in the first place. How is it making the game more difficult if you can easily mitigate the lack of their use? It's a simple inconvenience.

 

[Rentahamster]

You don't have to. You don't even need to maintain max mp. You can get through most areas pretty well and still maintain high enough mp for every end boss. Esp if you stack mp up on your mages.

Right. And you had to do it like that. Because no items.

No, the point is it hardly makes a difference to force you to do that in the first place.

Moving the goalposts, friend. The point I'm after is if it's good game design by means of removing a crutch and forcing the player to rethink their approach to combat and gear.

How is it making the game more difficult if you can easily mitigate the lack of their use?

Because you had to do that. Or you can learn to play without using MP, both viable options for difficult gameplay.

 

[Dacon]

Right. And you had to do it like that. Because no items.

If a person can make it through a scenario like it's business as usual regardless of the use of items, how is it making it more difficult?

Moving the goalposts, friend. The point I'm after is if it's good game design by means of removing a crutch and forcing the player to rethink their approach to combat and gear.

Nonsense, you haven't even effectively asserted that it even is a crutch, or that it forces some kind of higher level of thinking outside of average play.

Because you had to do that. Or you can learn to play without using MP, both viable options for difficult gameplay.

It's literally the same shit you learn to do outside of hard mode. I learned how to do all of this just from playing the game. It's not making the game more difficult, it just removes an option from the players arsenal, one that isn't even important enough to totally dictate the outcome of a difficult encounter.

 

[Lethal01]

Nonsense, you haven't even effectively asserted that it even is a crutch, or that it forces some kind of higher level of thinking outside of average play.

He did, you just ignored it by saying "But I was already thinking about that"
You not needing to be pushed to play better doesn't mean others aren't. The lack of items does push people to engage with the mechanics more.

 

[Rentahamster]

If a person can make it through a scenario like it's business as usual regardless of the use of items, how is it making it more difficult?

It's literally the same shit you learn to do outside of hard mode. I learned how to do all of this just from playing the game. It's not making the game more difficult, it just removes an option from the players arsenal, one that isn't even important enough to totally dictate the outcome of a difficult encounter.

Well, congratulations on being ahead of the curve in terms of battle prowess, but not everyone is. Lots of people have a hard time with hard mode.

It's not making the game more difficult

Not being able to fully heal your HP and MP after every battle doesn't make the game more difficult?

one that isn't even important enough to totally dictate the outcome of a difficult encounter.

Then why are you so upset that it's gone if you don't even use it anyway?

 

[Dacon]

Well, congratulations on being ahead of the curve in terms of battle prowess, but not everyone is. Lots of people have a hard time with hard mode.

That's not what I'm saying at all guy, now who's moving goalposts? My point is hard mode isn't difficult because of the lack of items, nor should it be.

Not being able to fully heal your HP and MP after every battle doesn't make the game more difficult?

No, it really doesn't. If you can play this game with any level of efficiency, you'll be fine.

Then why are you so upset that it's gone if you don't even use it anyway?

I literally said several posts ago I don't like having freedoms taken away from players.

 

[Rentahamster]

That's not what I'm saying at all guy, now who's moving goalposts? My point is hard mode isn't difficult because of the lack of items, nor should it be.

No, it really doesn't. If you can play this game with any level of efficiency, you'll be fine.

Not moving goalposts, I'm just going off of what you said. If the item command is really such a triviality, then why are so many people having trouble when it's gone?

I literally said several posts ago I don't like having freedoms taken away from players.

I also addressed that at the time. You said that they're not doing a good job of balancing difficulty if taking away items is the only tool they have. I said that that's not the only thing they did. They made the enemies harder too. I also said that it's not a necessary "freedom" to have if the point of a specific mode of your game is difficulty.

You can't just say they should do more damage. It doesn't matter how hard enemies hit you. If you can heal up to 100% with items after each battle, none of that matters.

 

[Dacon]

Not moving goalposts,

You are, you attempted to shift the focus to something I'm not even trying to say here.

I'm just going off of what you said. If the item command is really such a triviality, then why are so many people having trouble when it's gone?

[/QUOTE]

Because they have to adapt, I didn't say people didn't have to learn to work around it, but that items are not a "crutch" that breaks the games difficulty when absent. They do not dictate the games difficulty so much that they need be removed entirely. I'm saying you learn all the skills you need to deal with it during normal mode.

I also addressed that at the time. You said that they're not doing a good job of balancing difficulty if taking away items is the only tool they have. I said that that's not the only thing they did. They made the enemies harder too. I also said that it's not a necessary "freedom" to have if the point of a specific mode of your game is difficulty.

It's a part of the game that's literally getting locked out. Which is what the entire conversation is about. Plenty of other games adjust their games difficulty accordingly without locking any of the players abilities, why is the difficulty of this game solely contingent on the use of items in your eyes, versus all those others?

You can't just say they should do more damage.

I didn't.

It doesn't matter how hard enemies hit you. If you can heal up to 100% with items after each battle, none of that matters.

Then remove healing spells too. Being able to heal yourself with items makes the difficulty of those fights irrelevant?

How does being able to heal after a fight negate the difficulty you had winning that fight? That makes no sense.

 

[Rentahamster]

I didn't.

Then what is the end result of this, if not threatening the player character with more damage taken?

Or just change enemy attack patterns, increase resistances and add new abilities and phases for bosses.

 

[Dacon]

Then what is the end result of this, if not threatening the player character with more damage taken?

Forcing players to adapt to new strategies experience new scenarios that they previously had not concieved of?

Does all that really translate into "just more damage" to you? Some bosses in rpgs aren't difficult just because they can spit out a ton of damage.

 

[Rentahamster]

Forcing players to adapt to new strategies experience new scenarios that they previously had not concieved of?

Does all that really translate into "just more damage" to you? Some bosses in rpgs aren't difficult just because they can spit out a ton of damage.

More damage which leads to 0HP and a game failure state is ultimately the penalty a player faces for not playing optimally. I told you about the new enemy mechanics which you didn't seem to notice on your hard mode playthrough. That is a better way to implement difficulty than a flat stat boost to monsters, but the point stands that either method threatens you with greater damage and thus a greater threat of failure state.

Now , if this threat of damage and failure state can be mitigated with an effectively unlimited supply of healing items, the threat is lessened, and thus difficulty is lessened. You might not be able to see this because you're too good at the game, but this is a real struggle that many players are experiencing right now. Just check the subreddit lol.

 

[Dacon]

More damage which leads to 0HP and a game failure state is ultimately the penalty a player faces for not playing optimally.

Yeah, and there's a lot of ways to get there without relying on flat damage buffs.

I told you about the new enemy mechanics which you didn't seem to notice on your hard mode playthrough

You mentioned that I didn't pick up on all of them, you didn't elaborate on the ones I missed.

Now , if this threat of damage and failure state can be mitigated with an effectively unlimited supply of healing items, the threat is lessened, and thus difficulty is lessened.

No one has an unlimited supply of items, and even if you did you can't use them without consequence in combat. There is a cost, and you always have to judge whether or not it is worth the atb. There's situations where items do not help in combat, and thus don't mitigate the difficulty of a fight. Being able to heal inbetween battles doesn't lessen the quality of challenge of a well designed, difficult bossfight either.

Taking away items just inconveniences players and forces them to find work arounds for it, I think that's manufactured difficulty and ultimately not good game design. Frame it however you like.

If you think taking away resources from a player, and forcing them to fight a battle with their own dwindling resources versus increasing the difficulty of the enemies you face in a balanced and challenging manner then we're both coming at this from a very different mindset.

As I said earlier and stand by:

Plenty of other games adjust their games difficulty accordingly without locking any of the players abilities, why is the difficulty of this game solely contingent on the use of items in your eyes, versus all those others?

 

[T_LVPL]

Hard Mode is so good man. Feel like i’m actually playing the game properly now, using a vast array of different tactics and manoeuvres in battle. I found Normal Mode brilliant but slightly too easy i absolutely breezed through the game only dying about 3 times. Even when i was certain id die i’d manage to pull something out the bag and still scrape through.

Up to Chapter 5. smashed Level 50 by Chapter 3 and now it’s all about getting the last few abilities learnt and maxxing Materia and the sphere/FF13 type grid thingy.

 

[Rentahamster]

Then remove healing spells too. Being able to heal yourself with items makes the difficulty of those fights irrelevant?

How does being able to heal after a fight negate the difficulty you had winning that fight? That makes no sense.

Healing spells have an MP cost to them. That's different. Resource management is a key point for any strategy game worth its salt, wouldn't you agree?

No one has an unlimited supply of items, and even if you did you can't use them without consequence in combat.

That's why it's effectively unlimited. You can buy as many as you want. You should have tons of gil by the time you hit hard mode, as well as all the items you saved up that you never used in Normal Mode. Also, I'm not talking about in-battle item usage. You're not addressing the specific points I'm bringing up.

In-battle, to an extent. But what about outside of battle?

 

[Rentahamster]

Hard Mode is so good man. Feel like i’m actually playing the game properly now, using a vast array of different tactics and manoeuvres in battle. I found Normal Mode brilliant but slightly too easy i absolutely breezed through the game only dying about 3 times. Even when i was certain id die i’d manage to pull something out the bag and still scrape through.

Up to Chapter 5. smashed Level 50 by Chapter 3 and now it’s all about getting the last few abilities learnt and maxxing Materia and the sphere/FF13 type grid thingy.

Did you take on the chapter 17 special shinra simulator battles yet? Those are a decent challenge. Try to figure them out on your own, it's very rewarding.

 

[T_LVPL]

Another thing, I caved and paid £15 for the Carbunkle and Cactuar summons plus the soundtrack. Thought i’d wasted my money but now Glad I did now because Carbunkle has already saved me twice from certain death on Hard Mode.

 

[T_LVPL]

Did you take on the chapter 17 special shinra simulator battles yet? Those are a decent challenge. Try to figure them out on your own, it's very rewarding.

No mate haven’t done the hard mode Shinra battles yet. Only all the normal ones. Think i’m gonna just play through again in 1 go because I only have 1 Elemental Materia so i need to get to Chapter 14 and can’t be bothered playing the chapter and all the chapter 14 side quests again twice, because it takes hours. Gonna just try and get through to chapter 14 with 1 elemental materia then i’m ready for the optional bosses. I messed up and missed one of the early side quests so i couldn’t get the 2nd elemental materia 1st time around.

 

[Dacon]

Healing spells have an MP cost to them. That's different. Resource management is a key point for any strategy game worth its salt, wouldn't you agree?

This isn't a strategy game, it's an action rpg.

Also, I'm not talking about in-battle item usage. You're not addressing the specific points I'm bringing up.

What does it matter if it doesn't affect the actual battles themselves?

 

[Rentahamster]

This isn't a strategy game, it's an action rpg.

It's both. It has strategy elements too. Besides, resource management is a key point for any RPG worth its salt, wouldn't you agree?

What does it matter if it doesn't affect the actual battles themselves?

I'm not talking about any one battle. I'm talking about the overall experience. With items enabled, you are never under any threat of entering a battle with less than max HP/MP.

ou're not addressing all of my points either, so I think you can live with it.

I think I am.

He did, you just ignored it by saying "But I was already thinking about that"

But, if there's anything specific that you feel I'm ignoring, please lay it down one more time. Try to frame it in yes or no questions so that answers are clear.

 

[Dacon]

It's both. It has strategy elements too. Besides, resource management is a key point for any RPG worth its salt, wouldn't you agree?

Only when you have access to those resources, it literally doesn't matter if you lock them out entirely.

I'm not talking about any one battle. I'm talking about the overall experience. With items enabled, you are never under any threat of entering a battle with less than max HP/MP.

So? I'd rather go into a battle at my best and get my ass handed to me than struggle, not because the boss is tough and can hand me my ass, but because the game decided to handicap me arbitrarily because it has no faith in the mechanics its installed in the game.

Many of the games most difficult bosses are locked behind the VR sim, and you get mp and hp restored between rounds during those but those bosses still wind up behind difficult and fun regardless of the fact that you're getting restored after each round.

I cannot for the life of me understand the logic that items are a "crutch" when literally this game, and every other FF game has been designed around their use and still manage to have fun, difficult boss fights.

I think I'm done with going round and round with this, it's dominated too much of this thread already.

 

[bargeparty]

I posted in the spoiler thread too but just in case.

I've been thinking this... If they really wanted to expand the side characters in midgar why didn't they start a while before Cloud shows up? You could have played as Tifa and Barret helping out the people in the slums and working with avalanche.

Cloud doesn't give a shit about these people, at all. He's just in this for money. Build those other relationships so when the plate falls you might actually care as well (and don't have people miraculously survive).

Then afterwards have some time for Cloud, Tifa and Barret to help out those left from Sector 7 (I skipped those side quests. Couldn't be bothered dealing with more shitty quests and awful npcs.)

You can start to have Cloud show some compassion as he becomes determined to save Aerith.

Also unrelated but having a separate motorcycle sequence before the Shinra HQ escape takes the wind out of that sequence completely. Also to note how fucking awful the camera was during the highway boss fight.

 

[Rentahamster]

Only when you have access to those resources, it literally doesn't matter if you lock them out entirely.

Wouldn't you also agree that resource management is only meaningful when the resource is scarce and limited? MP is scarce when you can't use ethers to refill it.

So? I'd rather go into a battle at my best and get my ass handed to me than struggle, not because the boss is tough and can hand me my ass, but because the game decided to handicap me arbitrarily because it has no faith in the mechanics its installed in the game.

Being able to weather multiple battles while not having to rely on items is part of the difficulty and strategy. The game on hard mode takes that away from the player because it has faith in the mechanics and on the player's intelligence and skill to be able to use them effectively.

Many of the games most difficult bosses are locked behind the VR sim, and you get mp and hp restored between rounds during those but those bosses still wind up behind difficult and fun regardless of the fact that you're getting restored after each round.

And it only restores 50% HP/MP. Would it be better game design, in your opinion, if it recovered to 100%? Why or why not?

I cannot for the life of me understand the logic that items are a "crutch" when literally this game, and every other FF game has been designed around their use and still manage to have fun, difficult boss fights.

That is why I specifically asked you certain questions earlier, in order to help you understand, vis a vis other Final Fantasy games. If you answer these questions, I can explain how they're relevant to the field of game design and player expectation/behavior.

All of these points - do they matter more or less due to restricted items? Do you have to think about these gameplay elements more or less because of restricted items? Do they have more relevance to your decision making process?

Unlike FF15, where you can spam items will nilly, is the decision to lock item usage in battle to ATB meter a good or bad decision? Why or why not?

 

[Deleted member 17706]

My only complaint about the ATB system is that I wish it were more granular than just two bars. Something like 3 or 4 would make it so you could have more options and it wouldn't feel like a ripoff to use abilities like Assess. Also, you should get your points refunded if your ability doesn't connect or is interrupted. It's really frustrating to just lose out because your timing wasn't great.

 

[GymWolf]

Finally i beat the game.
Well, people wasn't kidding when they say that the new story element were some kingdom heart trash tier, holy fuck how can you greenlight this mess when you have such a good story already...

The game was a good 8/10 before that shitty final part, now it's barely a 7.

Fuck nomura, he is officially worst than kojima unleashed.

 

[Dacon]

 

[Rentahamster]

My only complaint about the ATB system is that I wish it were more granular than just two bars. Something like 3 or 4 would make it so you could have more options and it wouldn't feel like a ripoff to use abilities like Assess. Also, you should get your points refunded if your ability doesn't connect or is interrupted. It's really frustrating to just lose out because your timing wasn't great.

If they limit it to 2 now, they have room to grow in the next games. You can do a lot of stuff with only 2 bars.

Getting interrupted out of your moves if you get hit is an important lesson. Don't get hit lol. I am sympathetic, though, but gameplay needs consequences otherwise there's no strategy to decisionmaking.

 

[Lethal01]

My only complaint about the ATB system is that I wish it were more granular than just two bars. Something like 3 or 4 would make it so you could have more options and it wouldn't feel like a ripoff to use abilities like Assess. Also, you should get your points refunded if your ability doesn't connect or is interrupted. It's really frustrating to just lose out because your timing wasn't great.

I totally disagree with making it not take away ATB if you get it. Why would I want zero punishment for fucking up the timing? Not to mention you can do it to enemies by staggering them at the right moment.

I think 2 Bars is a good balance. Every action should have atleast a bars worth of weight put on it. and I don't think being able to hold 4 actions on a single character would affect the overall balance of the game well.

But I could meet you half way and say they could make it so that assess specifically only takes half a bar.

 

[SantaC]

normal mode sucks. Hard mode is way more fun.

I found the items in this game worthless.

 

[recma12]

I'm developing a love/hate relationship with this game...

Wall Market sucked, too many bland areas

Spoiler: mid game spoilers

The brothel disctrict made me really mad because it is by far the most interesting area (so far) and they only use it to just make you run back and forth during side missions.
Fights take place in an underground arena for some reason.... instead of fighting on the amazing looking neon lit surface.
Kinda bummed me out that the next two ares (sewer, trainyard) had interesting encounters but were so dull and empty.

Battle Intel
The unlock rate is all over the place. I played for like 5hrs and no new mission unlocked because I didn't run into "that guy".
Difficulty also makes little sense. Most of them I cleared the second they unlocked (because I already did the tasks naturally), others require you to do super speficic tasks that often make very little gameplay sense.

The Scale of Free Roam areas
IDK it just seems that everything (staircases, rooms, plazas) is a little too wide and tall and there is not much to interact with on those long as corridors.

Repeating gimmicks
Robot Hands, Trains, water pumps etc. These things are cool distractions but once is enough.

Running/walking with NPCs or Party Members
Man, gaming has taken some huge steps in that regard. In modern games this feels and looks pretty natural.
Like, you character slows down a bit before enganging with the NPC, camera moves in.
FF7R is stuck in 2006 Eurojank it seems.

Running after Johnny looked comically bad (he stops on a dime when you stop).
Climbing ladders with your party always looks awkward as they can turn transparent and you climb thru them.


None of this takes away from FF7R being a great game overall but it's just so weird that it takes them ages to make it and then you have these amateur hour things in there.

 

[Rentahamster]

For those of you that are working on hard mode, I made a couple of videos that may help on some of the more difficult fights.

Spoiler: Ultimate weapon trophy

Enjoy!

Here's a speedrun version by me featuring a lack of Cloud. I haven't seen anyone make videos without him yet. Time is 3:13

Spoiler: Endgame Sidequest Battle

 

[Nankatsu]

Guys, question about chapter 9:

Is it possible to find Johnny after the dancing scene and before you go to the audition?

I'm having a crack watching NPC's reaction to Cloud in dress. Even Chadley changes his lines during that moment.

Was curious to see Johnny's reaction to it, but I can't find him anywhere in Wall Market.

 

[bargeparty]

I'm developing a love/hate relationship with this game...

Wall Market sucked, too many bland areas

Spoiler: mid game spoilers

The brothel disctrict made me really mad because it is by far the most interesting area (so far) and they only use it to just make you run back and forth during side missions.
Fights take place in an underground arena for some reason.... instead of fighting on the amazing looking neon lit surface.
Kinda bummed me out that the next two ares (sewer, trainyard) had interesting encounters but were so dull and empty.

Battle Intel
The unlock rate is all over the place. I played for like 5hrs and no new mission unlocked because I didn't run into "that guy".
Difficulty also makes little sense. Most of them I cleared the second they unlocked (because I already did the tasks naturally), others require you to do super speficic tasks that often make very little gameplay sense.

The Scale of Free Roam areas
IDK it just seems that everything (staircases, rooms, plazas) is a little too wide and tall and there is not much to interact with on those long as corridors.

Repeating gimmicks
Robot Hands, Trains, water pumps etc. These things are cool distractions but once is enough.

Running/walking with NPCs or Party Members
Man, gaming has taken some huge steps in that regard. In modern games this feels and looks pretty natural.
Like, you character slows down a bit before enganging with the NPC, camera moves in.
FF7R is stuck in 2006 Eurojank it seems.

Running after Johnny looked comically bad (he stops on a dime when you stop).
Climbing ladders with your party always looks awkward as they can turn transparent and you climb thru them.


None of this takes away from FF7R being a great game overall but it's just so weird that it takes them ages to make it and then you have these amateur hour things in there.

It's funny you mention the robot hands in the collapsed highway section. I couldn't believe you had to do that 3 times.

 

[Manji Uzuki]

Finally beat the game last night and I think SE did a great job. I will probably post later some thoughts about the ending on the spoilers thread but some spoiler-free impressions:

• The music in this game is incredible. There are a few new tracks that I dislike but in general, OMG this is one of the best OST ever. Specially some battle themes and most of the music played during story scenes are just mindblowing.
• The characters look and sound great. I honestly thing this is the best representation that the main cast ever had. Really like how they build on their personalities using small moments and casual conversations instead of artificial big exposition dumps.
• Combat is very good. It works specially well when fighting in boss fights, which are handled in a fantastic way. My only complain is aerial combat which never really works well. I hope this gets improved in the sequel.
• Side quests were okish. They are generally very simple and some of them are quite bad (like the one with the cats in sector 7) but in general are ok to me as they made you explore new areas or fight new enemies. Also there are few of them so I never felt like it's something too invasive and they helped to make the city feel alive, like there are other things going on apart from the main quest.
• The representation of the OG scenes is incredibly good, far beyond my expectations.
• New plot elements good. I think they work very well when they are used to expand on some characters (like the Avalanche crew) or flesh out more Midgar. Not so happy about some chapters which felt too long, specially Chapters 5 and 6 got a bit boring to me and I think they could have been made into a single shorter chapter.
• Very happy that they haven't been afraid of embracing the more weird parts of the original game, like the whole Wall Market episode is just awesome. I was afraid they would try to get too serious and dark but they kept all this crazy things there. They even went all out and expanded it (like Hell house now converted into an epic boss fight)
• Graphically the game goes from very good character models, scenarios and lightning in some areas to some others which are not so great and a few spots that look bad. But in general It's a beautiful game. I think they achieved the feeling that Midgar is a massive and oppressive city with the plate in the sky constantly remembering you where you are.
• About the ending, I think I still need to digest some parts of it. Overall I like it but I think it's not very well executed. I understand why it's polemic and some people is disappointed though. Sequels will tell how good or bad it is.

A solid 9/10 for me.

 

[D.Final]

Guys, question about chapter 9:

Is it possible to find Johnny after the dancing scene and before you go to the audition?

I'm having a crack watching NPC's reaction to Cloud in dress. Even Chadley changes his lines during that moment.

Was curious to see Johnny's reaction to it, but I can't find him anywhere in Wall Market.

I don't think it can be found after that event, probably.
Or maybe is somewhere else?

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Getting interrupted out of your moves if you get hit is an important lesson. Don't get hit lol.

Fair enough. I just seem to suck at situational awareness and can never tell what the right timing is to execute abilities. The aggro mechanics also don't make a ton of sense to me.

Don't get me wrong, the combat is a lot of fun and I'm enjoying it, but I think something that is more deliberately paced and clearly communicates (to me at least) what is going on like FFXII's combat is a bit more up my alley.

 

[D.Final]

Awesome

P.S.:
And Jessie?