Same. Just made it to Chapter 17 and decided to call it a night. I did the three solo challenges in the battle simulator and that was a lot of fun. Just a little over 30 hours in now and I'm sad it's going to be over soon. Might do a Hard mode run.
Man I’m slow as I’m just over 40 hours (I’m sure there’s an hour or so of idle time.
I’m loving the game, but doubt I’ll do a hard mode run. I rarely replay games, and almost never up difficulty, and doubt I will here as I don’t enjoy the combat enough to really get good at it. Too many other things to play in any case.
me too! im using Japanese voices. the combat voices are way more badass. overall its really good in Japanese, i recommend doing both.
looking forward to maxing out my materias, finding the OP combinations to use, taking out crazy endgame boss challenges, etc. you can skip cutscenes which is nice. no that i want to skip the story but rn i just really want to get into the combat and exploring the world.
i see some complaints about the linearity. this has never been a complaint for me with any JRPG, as imo the linearity is a part of JRPGs. i mostly know JRPGs from the 16 bit era, the classic era, when they were truly linear. the FFVII Remake was made to be like a classic era JRPG. these are narrative games, with locations and setpieces, dialog and set directions, all more or less linearly laid out.
all the 16 bit JRPGs have a linear narrative, and you are always in areas that are cut off from one another, following the flow of a story. during FFIII's Opera part, you can't just leave the building and start climbing on top of it looking for collectibles. no, it was in an area designed to tell a story. FFX, like many other games, is divided into isolated areas with no backtracking. FFXIII famously has a hallway that goes on for hours and hours and I still thought it was an awesome game that i enjoyed very much. the linearity/nonlinearity of the environment has never been the point. the point is the graphics, the music, the characters, the fantasy, the reocurring stuff (mogs, chocobo, tonberry, etc.), above all the story (the way characters join/leave your party effecting both gameplay and story simultaneously). people looking for a more open world game, what other FF game is the closest to what you wanted?
me too! im using Japanese voices. the combat voices are way more badass. overall its really good in Japanese, i recommend doing both.
looking forward to maxing out my materias, finding the OP combinations to use, taking out crazy endgame boss challenges, etc. you can skip cutscenes which is nice. no that i want to skip the story but rn i just really want to get into the combat and exploring the world.
i see some complaints about the linearity. this has never been a complaint for me with any JRPG, as imo the linearity is a part of JRPGs. i mostly know JRPGs from the 16 bit era, the classic era, when they were truly linear. the FFVII Remake was made to be like a classic era JRPG. these are narrative games, with locations and setpieces, dialog and set directions, all more or less linearly laid out.
all the 16 bit JRPGs have a linear narrative, and you are always in areas that are cut off from one another, following the flow of a story. during FFIII's Opera part, you can't just leave the building and start climbing on top of it looking for collectibles. no, it was in an area designed to tell a story. FFX, like many other games, is divided into isolated areas with no backtracking. FFXIII famously has a hallway that goes on for hours and hours and I still thought it was an awesome game that i enjoyed very much. the linearity/nonlinearity of the environment has never been the point. the point is the graphics, the music, the characters, the fantasy, the reocurring stuff (mogs, chocobo, tonberry, etc.), above all the story (the way characters join/leave your party effecting both gameplay and story simultaneously). people looking for a more open world game, what other FF game is the closest to what you wanted?
I agree with you to an extent. With one exception: discovery. It’s fun to wander around only to discover some hidden treasure, side characters, unique locations, mini bosses. Opening up the world, if done right, can lead to your own little narrative.
So I'm now doing a second playthrough, mostly to check out the Japanese voicework, but also to do a more complete run. I didn't miss many side quests (and even for those that I did miss, I really didn't miss anything), but I did miss many materias. And the elemental materia, oh boy it's great.
But it's so great that I want more! I know you can get one en route to the section 5 Mako station, but are there more available somewhere?
Got the Platinum trophy earlier. Had to play through chapter 3 once, Chapter 8 twice, and Chapter 9 three times to get all the remaining dresses and also Cloud’s number 10 manuscript which was the last manuscript i needed. That involved beating Hell House on hard again but of course he’s now easy due to how strong i am & having Gotterdammerung. 100%ed the game now except for not seeing Barrett’s scene in chapter 14, so thinking of doing 1 final playthrough for fun, doing no sidequests at all, and getting the Barrett scene.
I beat the game's strongest secret boss yesterday.
And the reward is practically OP.
Now I am dedicating myself to the Platinum trophy. And when I get it platinum I will write a summary of my total impressions of the game.
P.S .: I would have preferred that the challenges of the battle simulators and the coliseum were all original (since they are few), and not all copy and paste with each individual character.
(excluding group ones in 2 or 3 characters)
It's a shame they made these post game, you need to have end game bosses before the final fight. What's the point of getting an OP item if you've already beaten the biggest boss?
Anyone else simply throw the 2 Magic + materia on Aeris combined with the Mythril Rod and the 10% extra magic earrings and first strike materia? I simply blast everything with huge fire/wind explosions as soon the the battle starts. It says the magic+ stack up to 100%, so it’ll be great in the next game with 220% magic attack on Aeris. actually hope she doesn’t die now so we get to use her all the way through.
It's a shame they made these post game, you need to have end game bosses before the final fight. What's the point of getting an OP item if you've already beaten the biggest boss?
Anyone else simply throw the 2 Magic + materia on Aeris combined with the Mythril Rod and the 10% extra magic earrings and first strike materia? I simply blast everything with huge fire/wind explosions as soon the the battle starts. It says the magic+ stack up to 100%, so it’ll be great in the next game with 220% magic attack on Aeris. actually hope she doesn’t die now so we get to use her all the way through.
No i think you have to do a load of bullshit to get the scene. I simply meant i can’t be bothered doing the sidequests now that i won’t get the rewards. Just playing for fun now to fight the bosses, enjoy the music, enjoy the scenery and blast everyone with boosted magic on Aeris.
Anyone else simply throw the 2 Magic + materia on Aeris combined with the Mythril Rod and the 10% extra magic earrings and first strike materia? I simply blast everything with huge fire/wind explosions as soon the the battle starts. It says the magic+ stack up to 100%, so it’ll be great in the next game with 220% magic attack on Aeris. actually hope she doesn’t die now so we get to use her all the way through.
It's a shame they made these post game, you need to have end game bosses before the final fight. What's the point of getting an OP item if you've already beaten the biggest boss?
True. This happens very often with games of this genre. Whether it is weapons, armor or accessories, when you have to beat the strongest Boss in the game to get it, it becomes more of a whim or a personal challenge to get that reward rather than actually using it.
(or using it just for disintegrate all the enemies of the story in newgame+ mode, eventually, but nothing more)
In the case of that accessory, the strongest of the game obtained by beating the Boss Pride and Joy in Final Fantasy VII Remake, I think it practically exists only for make the hard mode of the game much easier.
Chapter 6, the Sector 4 Plate -- in an optional area down the ladder on the way to the third lamp.
Chapter 14, Urban Advancement District -- find alongside the Angel of the Slums letter before heading up to the plate as long as you’ve completed all quests involving Mireille.
(or simply just complete all the side-quests of your first run. If it's your first run. In any case just complete them all.)
P.S .: I got almost all the trophies in the game. The last one I miss is only to finish my second run on hard mode, and I will finally get the Platinum trophy.
(I only miss the last 2 chapters in hard mode)
Probably tomorrow I will definitely complete it.
True. This happens very often with games of this genre.
Whether it is weapons, armor or accessories, when you have to beat the strongest Boss in the game to get it, it becomes more of a whim or a personal challenge to get that reward rather than actually using it.
(or using it just for disintegrate all the enemies of the story in newgame+ mode, eventually, but nothing more)
In the case of that accessory, the strongest of the game obtained by Pride and Joy in Final Fantasy VII Remake, I think it practically exists only for make the hard mode of the game much easier.
Chapter 6, the Sector 4 Plate -- in an optional area down the ladder on the way to the third lamp.
Chapter 14, Urban Advancement District -- find alongside the Angel of the Slums letter before heading up to the plate as long as you’ve completed all quests involving Mireille.
(or simply just complete all the side-quests of your first run. If it's your first run. In any case just complete them all.)
P.S .: I got almost all the trophies in the game. The last one I miss is only to finish my second run on hard mode, and I will finally get the Platinum trophy.
(I only miss the last 2 chapters in hard mode)
Probably tomorrow I will definitely complete it.
One is in the store room on Chapter 7 after the levers minigame before Airbuster and the other is a reward for round 2 of Tifa’s Pull Ups minigame in Chapter 14.
Best materia in the game for me along with Elemental. Turns Aeris into a beast. People talk about using magic on hard mode, but Aeris has about 145 MP with the right setup and she has MP Absorb ability on her abilities plus MP Absorption Materia and you’ll rarely be below 80 MP on her providing you use magic sensibly. It feels amazing for the battle to start and immediately see all the enemies catch fire and explode, or fly off in a huge whirlwind and die.
People talk about using magic on hard mode, but Aeris has about 145 MP with the right setup and she has MP Absorb ability on her abilities plus MP Absorption Materia and you’ll rarely be below 80 MP on her providing you use magic sensibly.
I'm most of the way through Chapter 13 now and god damn this game can be so boring sometimes. As much as I like blasting off about negative things on internet forums, I don't really enjoy being negative about this remake. There's something good inside of it somewhere, but it gets harder and harder to see the more I play it.
All the walking back and forth through empty zones with lifeless and shallow cutscenes taking place is wearing me thin. It's like you can do a 1.5 hour session and get literally nothing done. Just put me in some zones where I fight shit and find items! Maybe let me put the slow moving dialog in the cutscenes on 1.5X speed or something. This game is like watching paint dry on a wall whose texture hasn't loaded yet.
I'm most of the way through Chapter 13 now and god damn this game can be so boring sometimes. As much as I like blasting off about negative things on internet forums, I don't really enjoy being negative about this remake. There's something good inside of it somewhere, but it gets harder and harder to see the more I play it.
All the walking back and forth through empty zones with lifeless and shallow cutscenes taking place is wearing me thin. It's like you can do a 1.5 hour session and get literally nothing done. Just put me in some zones where I fight shit and find items! Maybe let me put the slow moving dialog in the cutscenes on 1.5X speed or something. This game is like watching paint dry on a wall whose texture hasn't loaded yet.
Sometimes it feels like if you played the original FF7, and just counted to 5 in your head before pressing X to move to the next line of dialog (even when it's just "....." or "sigh"), you'd have the speed of the dialog in these cutscenes.
I'm most of the way through Chapter 13 now and god damn this game can be so boring sometimes. As much as I like blasting off about negative things on internet forums, I don't really enjoy being negative about this remake. There's something good inside of it somewhere, but it gets harder and harder to see the more I play it.
All the walking back and forth through empty zones with lifeless and shallow cutscenes taking place is wearing me thin. It's like you can do a 1.5 hour session and get literally nothing done. Just put me in some zones where I fight shit and find items! Maybe let me put the slow moving dialog in the cutscenes on 1.5X speed or something. This game is like watching paint dry on a wall whose texture hasn't loaded yet.
as much as i love this game, i have to agree. i can say however that it got better for NG+ runs since i already knew where to go, what to, not to do, i wasnt worried about looking for chests and i was way more powerful than everything so fighting became waaaay more fun, and faster of course.
after beating it, playing NG+ and skipping cutscenes and just focusing on gameplay/combat & getting all trophies, it is really a lot of fun to play just as a game without any story. i was able to accomplish a few of the more obscure Chadley challenges and get some new materia & a summon to play around with, and the hard mode combat can be very challenging at times, so the post-game is a lot of fun. it seems like there is a solid 30+ hours of gameplay alone here even if you skip all cutscenes.
Today, after 75 hours of gameplay, I got the Platinum trophy immediately after finishing the game on hard mode.
[allert, multiple story spoiler ahead]
And also in a spectacular way.
Considering that as the last hit in the battle against Sephiroth in hard mode I used the Bahamut Megaflare.
(and I also had my Bahamut fight against Bahamut Wisper)
The final winner is definitely my Bahamut.
I will not give my final verdict on the game as a number, but with this sentence.
Final Fantasy VII Remake is a spectacular game, but if I can certainly say this with regard to most of the storyline (with the exception of some elements such as the Wispers of Fate,
and the improbable and completely random introduction of the new fate for Zack, a decision probably made by Nomura, that start to ruin and will probably end up to ruin even more this character and the exact foundation of the entire Final Fantasy VII origins story
which cannot be amalgamated with the game's narrative events in a very convincing way , for me) I can't say the same for the secondary content of the game, since this game is basically poor in content and a slice of this content is made in a listless and rather banal way.
[I mean most of the coliseum battle (mostly are just copy and paste battles), most of the battles in the 2 Shinra battle simulators (even here there are just mostly copy and paste battle), and several side missions]
As for the plot, the game is almost totally faithful to the original (at least 90% fair).
Yes, because the two best qualities of this Remake, from my point of view, is the great loyalty in the transposition of the original game events, and the realization and the more than total expansion of different secondary characters such as Biggs, Wedge and Jessie. And the extremely choreographic construction of the environments, the cutscenes, and the Boss battle of the game. Just AMAZING
In fact chapters with unpublished characterization elements such as chapter 4 (with the exception of the final section, and the more than useless character of Roche) chapter 11, or the second battle against Abzu in chapter 14, are more than excellent additions to the narration of the game.
While those of the Wispers of Fate are the kind of additions, and also substantial and evident changes to the plot that I didn't like very much.
And this inevitably leads me to talk also about the final section of the game.
Chapter 18 begins with the classic run for escape from Midgar.
A spectacular and adrenaline-fueled section that I particularly liked.
And then we go to the final battles against the last Boss.
Basically the Wispers of Fate, made almost as if they were Boss of the Kingdom Hearts saga, complete with Bahamut Whisper and Sephiroth Advent Children mode also made by Wispers.
As a spectacle, it is rather epic as a final battle.
But after replaying it on hard mode I realized how much redundancy there is in the battles prior to Sephiroth's, perhaps even too much redundant battles.
I would have preferred fewer battles, but more layered like those found in the Bosses of the previous chapters of the game, rather than one battle after another without some pleasant layering.
Secondaries missions are only 26 in total, of which only 24 can be accomplished in a first run with the game.
In my humble opinion they are few, but I hoped at least that they were at least of good quality, but I was wrong. These are the usual, banal and classic, ridiculous missions from JRPG.
(take this, get rid of those ugly and bad monsters, find my kittens, find my children, etc ....)
They are not stratified at all, and only 1/2 are more connected at the end, but in the end they are still extremely banal. (I refer to the missions of the angel of the slums, and of the journalist)
While the only two battles of the Shinra Simulator that I liked are the last two of the second simulator, namely the battle against Molboro and the Boss Pride and Joy. But no other extra battles.
The battles against the Summons in Chadley's VR simulator are also pretty.
The gameplay is dynamic, fast and fun to play, but it is not without serious flaws.
And the biggest flaws that I found in the game are, the aerial combos (bad and made substantially badly), the camera (in situations of many enemies in closed spaces it becomes really annoying) and the lock on of the enemies in battle (especially when they are more than 3 or 4, the lock on is quickly unbalanced, often changing the opponent even during the action)
And now I turn to my final conclusions.
I finished my first run in standard mode in about 40 hours. And in these 40 hours I only died 2 times in the whole plot of the game. And practically due to distracting errors that I had with the camera and the lock-on on the enemy.
While in hard mode the only Bosses who gave me a hard time were Hellhouse and the Bahamut + Ifrit challenge before reaching the last battle against Pride and Joy. And this is my summary of the most complex challenges I have encountered.
In conclusion, Final Fantasy VII Remake is undoubtedly an extremely spectacular and easy game to play, in the end, and which for the most part represents an excellent start for what is preparing to become a saga dedicated to the world of Final Fantasy VII.
However, the desire to focus almost exclusively on the plot of the game has left the side of the secondary contents very uncovered which, considering everything, are few and are of a swinging nature and tending towards a poor, recycled, and rather banal realization overall.
The positive points are:
- the excellent graphic rendering of the main characters, enemies and cutscenes of the game
- a sufficiently dynamic, fast and slightly strategic battle system
- a truly excellent rearranged soundtrack
- some good additions and narrative insights in the characterization of secondary and main characters
While the negative points are:
- multiple bad textures within the game, with very low resolution
- the bad combat system regarding air battles. Since in practice there are no air combos.
(the character jumps to attack the enemy in an exclusively linear and fixed way, but the enemy moves slightly, and you remain there suspended in the air, continuing to hit the air from a standstill, until you finish your attack, go back to the ground and re-chase the enemy just to jump again and miss him again ....)
- the unnecessary and decidedly forced plot changes within the narrative, and particularly in the final section of the game
- poverty of the secondary contents of the game.
(the game's postgame basically consists only of unlocking the chapter selection, the hard mode, and the 6/7 hard mode challenges you can do in the second Shinra simulator in chapter 17. And of which 4 of those are the same challenge copy and paste, exactly the same way they did the characters' challenges at the coliseum.)
Ultimately a really addicting game, as far as the plot is concerned, but as for the rest, there isn't much else really interesting.
(except for the 2 most difficult challenges of the second battle simulator, and the battle against the Summons like Bahamut)
The excessive linearity of the game (which, however, was also present in the original) is here almost artificially lengthened in this Remake, significantly lengthening sections that were also very small in the original, creating new unprecedented linear sections as in chapter 13, or lengthening the mission of the Mako Reactor 5 until it lasts even 3 entire chapters (chapters 5, 6 and 7).
And even proposing multiple moments of slow walking, which I personally found quite abused, considering that by now I could almost foresee the beginning of almost every single event of the game, even if I only noticed how it started to walk slowly.
(and I would say too often)
And if this choice is certainly attributable to the team's desire to concentrate on creating a remarkably choreographic plot in almost every single aspect, this choice also led to the inevitable loss of a slice of freedom that could be given to the player in his or her personal plot experience.
And this mainly concerns the possibility of being able to give real freedom that could be given more to the player. And this also concerns only small choices.
An example I can give is the Wall Market section. Hugely expanded in this Remake, but that despite this has not managed to be purely faithful to the original game of Final Fantasy VII, largely become something completely different but with obvious obvious references to that same section of the game in the original.
In this case I would have preferred greater loyalty to the main quest, and less to the fact of introducing new secondary characters, albeit also comic or cute like Madame M.
Those who played the original game will remember how each piece of clothing had to be collected for Cloud's dress, and it was also quite complicated.
This operation in Final Fantasy VII Remake is basically canceled.
In the Remake that mission is widely modified and made optional, while to get the disguise for Cloud in the Remake you have to do the minigame of the dance in the Honeybee Inn.
And despite everything, I also found it a funny scene.
(but it becomes frustrating to have to redo the whole chapter 9 for at least 3 times or more to get all the clothes)
But the point I want to get to is the conclusion, with the choice of Don Corneo.
In Final Fantasy VII Remake, in chapter 9, the choice of Don Corneo is driven by the plot, and the player can not do anything different from that provided by the plot's cutscenes. And this for me was a personal sin (albeit relative, in the end), because in practice it made me understand how although there are choices to be made in the plot of the game (which can modify small elements, such as the outfits of the characters or any rewards) the plot will almost never undergo the choice of the player.
(not that the plot ever changed so much even in the original game by the choice of the players, at the end...)
And so they made the player choice basically irrelevant in this case.
But even a simple trivial thing like this, (because in the original game if you didn't collect all the pieces for Cloud's disguise, Don Corneo could also choose Aerith or Tifa among the three of them), made me understand how this their desire on the part of the team to tell the plot in a very precise, linear way, and without obvious variables, also had the effect of further removing the freedom of the player in his path of discovery of the plot, in the end.
[I remember that the first time I played Final Fantasy VII on PS1, Don Corneo had chosen Tifa, while Cloud and Aerith, from separate rooms, had to run to save her]
Then, the plot of Final Fantasy VII Remake is almost always that of the original and always cool, but I think this thing due to their fixed thinking will also led to this loss of personal expression of living their story with own path. Or at least in my little personal thought I see it this way.
However, I ended up making a long speech about my final thoughts on the game.
To finish my considerations, I liked this Final Fantasy VII Remake in general considering the strengths and weaknesses.
And the quality and commitment brought by the team to the project are evident.
And obviously I can't wait to play Part 2 of this Remake.
But there are still doubts that I cannot avoid not thinking about.
And among these are:
1- in how many parts will the project be divided?
Because considering that they released this part, but that they have not yet decided how and in how many parts the project will be divided, I am concerned.
2- How far will the plot of this Remake differ from that of the original game?
Because it is true that the plot of this Remake is for the most part faithful to the events of the original game. But that ending and those details about Zack portend changes of greater thickness on the horizon.
The kind of forced changes that, in addition to changing fundamental events in the game's history and Lore, can potentially destroy the entire characterization of the characters.
(as happens, in fact, in the case of Zack, Sephiroth, and slightly also with Aerith)
I just hope the story won't be turned upside down, becoming something totally different in the future.
3- when will the subsequent parts of the project come out?
Considering that if I had to make a hypothesis, I would say that Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 2 could easily come out by 2023, if they reuse the assets of most of the enemies, the main characters, and the gameplay.
But we are talking about Square Enix and Nomura in particular.
And if he decided to change Engine to make even one of the subsequent parts, the times would rise considerably.
And if we add to this their current indecision on how to proceed .....
It may take a long time.
Having said that, I always remain hopeful for the future of this project, of which I am almost certain also the subsequent parts will be of decidedly excellent graphic quality, and probably also at the plot level if they manage to be as faithful as possible to the events of the original game.
For the rest, I can only hope that the project will not be divided into 5 or more parts, and that it can find its conclusion by the end of the PS5 generation.
Chapter 17 was pretty damn epic! Though I think I used all my (only had a few) turbo ethers and elixirs on the final boss of the chapter. Hope that doesn’t bite me in the ass. Was trying to find a good place to stop in Chapter 18 but it was straight into action. Died in a boss and calling it a night.
Today, after 75 hours of gameplay, I got the Platinum trophy immediately after finishing the game on hard mode.
[allert, multiple story spoiler ahead]
And also in a spectacular way.
Considering that as the last hit in the battle against Sephiroth in hard mode I used the Bahamut Megaflare.
(and I also had my Bahamut fight against Bahamut Wisper)
The final winner is definitely my Bahamut.
I will not give my final verdict on the game as a number, but with this sentence.
Final Fantasy VII Remake is a spectacular game, but if I can certainly say this with regard to most of the storyline (with the exception of some elements such as the Wispers of Fate,
and the improbable and completely random introduction of the new fate for Zack, a decision probably made by Nomura, that start to ruin and will probably end up to ruin even more this character and the exact foundation of the entire Final Fantasy VII origins story
which cannot be amalgamated with the game's narrative events in a very convincing way , for me) I can't say the same for the secondary content of the game, since this game is basically poor in content and a slice of this content is made in a listless and rather banal way.
[I mean most of the coliseum battle (mostly are just copy and paste battles), most of the battles in the 2 Shinra battle simulators (even here there are just mostly copy and paste battle), and several side missions]
As for the plot, the game is almost totally faithful to the original (at least 90% fair).
Yes, because the two best qualities of this Remake, from my point of view, is the great loyalty in the transposition of the original game events, and the realization and the more than total expansion of different secondary characters such as Biggs, Wedge and Jessie. And the extremely choreographic construction of the environments, the cutscenes, and the Boss battle of the game. Just AMAZING
In fact chapters with unpublished characterization elements such as chapter 4 (with the exception of the final section, and the more than useless character of Roche) chapter 11, or the second battle against Abzu in chapter 14, are more than excellent additions to the narration of the game.
While those of the Wispers of Fate are the kind of additions, and also substantial and evident changes to the plot that I didn't like very much.
And this inevitably leads me to talk also about the final section of the game.
Chapter 18 begins with the classic run for escape from Midgar.
A spectacular and adrenaline-fueled section that I particularly liked.
And then we go to the final battles against the last Boss.
Basically the Wispers of Fate, made almost as if they were Boss of the Kingdom Hearts saga, complete with Bahamut Whisper and Sephiroth Advent Children mode also made by Wispers.
As a spectacle, it is rather epic as a final battle.
But after replaying it on hard mode I realized how much redundancy there is in the battles prior to Sephiroth's, perhaps even too much redundant battles.
I would have preferred fewer battles, but more layered like those found in the Bosses of the previous chapters of the game, rather than one battle after another without some pleasant layering.
Secondaries missions are only 26 in total, of which only 24 can be accomplished in a first run with the game.
In my humble opinion they are few, but I hoped at least that they were at least of good quality, but I was wrong. These are the usual, banal and classic, ridiculous missions from JRPG.
(take this, get rid of those ugly and bad monsters, find my kittens, find my children, etc ....)
They are not stratified at all, and only 1/2 are more connected at the end, but in the end they are still extremely banal. (I refer to the missions of the angel of the slums, and of the journalist)
While the only two battles of the Shinra Simulator that I liked are the last two of the second simulator, namely the battle against Molboro and the Boss Pride and Joy. But no other extra battles.
The battles against the Summons in Chadley's VR simulator are also pretty.
The gameplay is dynamic, fast and fun to play, but it is not without serious flaws.
And the biggest flaws that I found in the game are, the aerial combos (bad and made substantially badly), the camera (in situations of many enemies in closed spaces it becomes really annoying) and the lock on of the enemies in battle (especially when they are more than 3 or 4, the lock on is quickly unbalanced, often changing the opponent even during the action)
And now I turn to my final conclusions.
I finished my first run in standard mode in about 40 hours. And in these 40 hours I only died 2 times in the whole plot of the game. And practically due to distracting errors that I had with the camera and the lock-on on the enemy.
While in hard mode the only Bosses who gave me a hard time were Hellhouse and the Bahamut + Ifrit challenge before reaching the last battle against Pride and Joy. And this is my summary of the most complex challenges I have encountered.
In conclusion, Final Fantasy VII Remake is undoubtedly an extremely spectacular and easy game to play, in the end, and which for the most part represents an excellent start for what is preparing to become a saga dedicated to the world of Final Fantasy VII.
However, the desire to focus almost exclusively on the plot of the game has left the side of the secondary contents very uncovered which, considering everything, are few and are of a swinging nature and tending towards a poor, recycled, and rather banal realization overall.
The positive points are:
- the excellent graphic rendering of the main characters, enemies and cutscenes of the game
- a sufficiently dynamic, fast and slightly strategic battle system
- a truly excellent rearranged soundtrack
- some good additions and narrative insights in the characterization of secondary and main characters
While the negative points are:
- multiple bad textures within the game, with very low resolution
- the bad combat system regarding air battles. Since in practice there are no air combos.
(the character jumps to attack the enemy in an exclusively linear and fixed way, but the enemy moves slightly, and you remain there suspended in the air, continuing to hit the air from a standstill, until you finish your attack, go back to the ground and re-chase the enemy just to jump again and miss him again ....)
- the unnecessary and decidedly forced plot changes within the narrative, and particularly in the final section of the game
- poverty of the secondary contents of the game.
(the game's postgame basically consists only of unlocking the chapter selection, the hard mode, and the 6/7 hard mode challenges you can do in the second Shinra simulator in chapter 17. And of which 4 of those are the same challenge copy and paste, exactly the same way they did the characters' challenges at the coliseum.)
Ultimately a really addicting game, as far as the plot is concerned, but as for the rest, there isn't much else really interesting.
(except for the 2 most difficult challenges of the second battle simulator, and the battle against the Summons like Bahamut)
The excessive linearity of the game (which, however, was also present in the original) is here almost artificially lengthened in this Remake, significantly lengthening sections that were also very small in the original, creating new unprecedented linear sections as in chapter 13, or lengthening the mission of the Mako Reactor 5 until it lasts even 3 entire chapters (chapters 5, 6 and 7).
And even proposing multiple moments of slow walking, which I personally found quite abused, considering that by now I could almost foresee the beginning of almost every single event of the game, even if I only noticed how it started to walk slowly.
(and I would say too often)
And if this choice is certainly attributable to the team's desire to concentrate on creating a remarkably choreographic plot in almost every single aspect, this choice also led to the inevitable loss of a slice of freedom that could be given to the player in his or her personal plot experience.
And this mainly concerns the possibility of being able to give real freedom that could be given more to the player. And this also concerns only small choices.
An example I can give is the Wall Market section. Hugely expanded in this Remake, but that despite this has not managed to be purely faithful to the original game of Final Fantasy VII, largely become something completely different but with obvious obvious references to that same section of the game in the original.
In this case I would have preferred greater loyalty to the main quest, and less to the fact of introducing new secondary characters, albeit also comic or cute like Madame M.
Those who played the original game will remember how each piece of clothing had to be collected for Cloud's dress, and it was also quite complicated.
This operation in Final Fantasy VII Remake is basically canceled.
In the Remake that mission is widely modified and made optional, while to get the disguise for Cloud in the Remake you have to do the minigame of the dance in the Honeybee Inn.
And despite everything, I also found it a funny scene.
(but it becomes frustrating to have to redo the whole chapter 9 for at least 3 times or more to get all the clothes)
But the point I want to get to is the conclusion, with the choice of Don Corneo.
In Final Fantasy VII Remake, in chapter 9, the choice of Don Corneo is driven by the plot, and the player can not do anything different from that provided by the plot's cutscenes. And this for me was a personal sin (albeit relative, in the end), because in practice it made me understand how although there are choices to be made in the plot of the game (which can modify small elements, such as the outfits of the characters or any rewards) the plot will almost never undergo the choice of the player.
(not that the plot ever changed so much even in the original game by the choice of the players, at the end...)
And so they made the player choice basically irrelevant in this case.
But even a simple trivial thing like this, (because in the original game if you didn't collect all the pieces for Cloud's disguise, Don Corneo could also choose Aerith or Tifa among the three of them), made me understand how this their desire on the part of the team to tell the plot in a very precise, linear way, and without obvious variables, also had the effect of further removing the freedom of the player in his path of discovery of the plot, in the end.
[I remember that the first time I played Final Fantasy VII on PS1, Don Corneo had chosen Tifa, while Cloud and Aerith, from separate rooms, had to run to save her]
Then, the plot of Final Fantasy VII Remake is almost always that of the original and always cool, but I think this thing due to their fixed thinking will also led to this loss of personal expression of living their story with own path. Or at least in my little personal thought I see it this way.
However, I ended up making a long speech about my final thoughts on the game.
To finish my considerations, I liked this Final Fantasy VII Remake in general considering the strengths and weaknesses.
And the quality and commitment brought by the team to the project are evident.
And obviously I can't wait to play Part 2 of this Remake.
But there are still doubts that I cannot avoid not thinking about.
And among these are:
1- in how many parts will the project be divided?
Because considering that they released this part, but that they have not yet decided how and in how many parts the project will be divided, I am concerned.
2- How far will the plot of this Remake differ from that of the original game?
Because it is true that the plot of this Remake is for the most part faithful to the events of the original game. But that ending and those details about Zack portend changes of greater thickness on the horizon.
The kind of forced changes that, in addition to changing fundamental events in the game's history and Lore, can potentially destroy the entire characterization of the characters.
(as happens, in fact, in the case of Zack, Sephiroth, and slightly also with Aerith)
I just hope the story won't be turned upside down, becoming something totally different in the future.
3- when will the subsequent parts of the project come out?
Considering that if I had to make a hypothesis, I would say that Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 2 could easily come out by 2023, if they reuse the assets of most of the enemies, the main characters, and the gameplay.
But we are talking about Square Enix and Nomura in particular.
And if he decided to change Engine to make even one of the subsequent parts, the times would rise considerably.
And if we add to this their current indecision on how to proceed .....
It may take a long time.
Having said that, I always remain hopeful for the future of this project, of which I am almost certain also the subsequent parts will be of decidedly excellent graphic quality, and probably also at the plot level if they manage to be as faithful as possible to the events of the original game.
For the rest, I can only hope that the project will not be divided into 5 or more parts, and that it can find its conclusion by the end of the PS5 generation.
I think the air combos being basic would be totally fine and a good way to say "this character is not meant to fight these enemies, use your whole team"
But they often force you to do it since you don't have a ranged fighter on your team. The camera fucking up when you do it is also just bad even if you don't want to encorage air combat.
That all said aerial combat is one of the reasons I can't stop loving Kingdom Hearts so while I don't think making it viable would make the game objectively better, I still desperately hope the next game makes it way cooler.
It's bullshit they didn't make Red XIII a playable character.
Shinra tower was pretty cool, though I find myself asking when are they going to get to the fireworks factory a lot. There's just a little bit too much padding throughout this game for my tastes. But I'm always having fun with the combat and the story is still keeping me gripped. Just sometimes the dungeons are like ok lets get on with this, I'd prefer a heavier ratio of battles to traversal/level pulling shit, but at least it's all pretty.
I think it may have been cut towards the end of the development. I saw that someone did a mod to make it playable and seems that it's pretty much working already. It's also weird that you can't select which character you want to control outside battles. At certain points you do control each member of the main cast so all the animations are already in place.
Maybe when we get an eventual PS5 version they will add this kind of things
Anyone else simply throw the 2 Magic + materia on Aeris combined with the Mythril Rod and the 10% extra magic earrings and first strike materia? I simply blast everything with huge fire/wind explosions as soon the the battle starts. It says the magic+ stack up to 100%, so it’ll be great in the next game with 220% magic attack on Aeris. actually hope she doesn’t die now so we get to use her all the way through.
Finally beaten it on hard mode. Chapter 18 bosses were kinda easy I thought. I want to play more but I'm not really after the Platinum. I think I'll asses some enemies I left behind.
im going on 70 hours now still totally in love with this game. on the 2nd Hard Mode run. im at the part with the giant hands. it's kinda cool. plus the music there is so badass.
It's also weird that you can't select which character you want to control outside battles. At certain points you do control each member of the main cast so all the animations are already in place.
Maybe when we get an eventual PS5 version they will add this kind of things
is it weird? you can't do that in any of the Final Fantasy games i have played.
i guess it would be nice. but the thing is mostly this is a linear game, and Cloud is on his own for the most part. or he is only paired with one of the other characters for a lot of the game, because the story is written around one or another character being around. i see why they didn't really bother implementing it as it seems like a luxury feature.
Finished this up just now. Really loved it. Really a thrill ride from chapter 15 to the finish. I'll do some digging tomorrow and see if there's any endgame stuff I want to mess with (didn't do much of the combat simulator or get all the summons). As I said before, I doubt I'll mess with hard mode much, if at all. Usually not my bag and I don't know that I like the combat and materia systems enough to really dig into them--which I'd need to as I had some long ass boss fights just brute forcing my way through, though I only hit game over a handful of times. Finished with the playtime counter just under 47 hours, though I imagine I've got an hour or two of idle time.
I was fearful after not liking most of Squeenix's recent output, but I'm surprised how much I'm loving this. And I'm not even a big FFVII guy. Or maybe that's why I'm loving it so much.
I can't get enough of the Avalanche members. Technically they're eco-fascists who commit violent acts of terrorism. But their personalities are more like a church youth group who all just donated blood and they're excited cause now their pastor is gonna treat them to mcdonalds. They're all super besties for life, giving each other thumbs up and hugging it out. I cracked up big time when Jessie slapped wedge's fat ass after inspecting it for a gunshot. Just who are these people lol. Can they be the main characters in part 2 plz.
There is some stuff that feels very modern square like some kingdom heartsy shit with ghosts and flashbacks and a ridiculous motorcycle guy who zips around ranting gibberish like speedy gonzales, but taking the good with the bad, I'm quite charmed by this game and feeling some of my dormant love for the franchise return.
is it weird? you can't do that in any of the Final Fantasy games i have played.
i guess it would be nice. but the thing is mostly this is a linear game, and Cloud is on his own for the most part. or he is only paired with one of the other characters for a lot of the game, because the story is written around one or another character being around. i see why they didn't really bother implementing it as it seems like a luxury feature.
Well, that's a good point. I think you were able to select the leader of the party to move around in FFVI (and all the previous ones) and also in XII if I'm not wrong. I. understand that when moving on the slums or doing any main story related thing we have to control a particular character for story purposes. However during dungeons or side quests I don't see any impediment. Probably as you said it's just that they consider it a nice to have thing and didn't bother to implement the option
I'm still not that far in, chapter 6, but Roche is a terrible character. Just horrible. Doesn't fit at all, is way too anime-y and over the top and doesn't fit with the dark nature of the original characters at all. Just feels out of place. Every time I've seen him it's been total cringeworthy.
I'm still not that far in, chapter 6, but Roche is a terrible character. Just horrible. Doesn't fit at all, is way too anime-y and over the top and doesn't fit with the dark nature of the original characters at all. Just feels out of place. Every time I've seen him it's been total cringeworthy.
Not a big fan of Roche neither. I think his role is just to exemplify how crazy and excentric Soldiers 1st class are, which is a cool idea, but it could have been handled better.
Got her at 526 using 1 spell. Just for a joke not playing properly. Max she goes to it 528 but there’s no point as no room for a spell. Generally though I have her at about 512 playing properly. Maximum attack for Cloud, i have strength going to the low 400s, making Aeris by far the most powerful character.
Looking forward to STR+ materia in the next game. All 3 of Cloud, Tifa and Barrett need STR+ to bring them up to Aeris’ level. Cloud is a beast with Hardedge and Catastrophe is the best limit in the game, but their basic attacks are too weak for my liking especially Tifa and Barrett. Tifa’s only useful with Purple Pain for the critical hits and Chi boost, no point even bothering with any of her other weapons.
im going on 70 hours now still totally in love with this game. on the 2nd Hard Mode run. im at the part with the giant hands. it's kinda cool. plus the music there is so badass.
I’m on my 3rd and final playthrough, up to Chapter 17 and the Shinra simulator. 140 hours. got a 100% game now with all Chapter 14 scenes, platinum trophy, everything in the game except some enemy scans. Probably do the simulator level 6 and 7 again just for the sake of it. I’ve been completely addicted to it for the last 3 weeks, got it a day early but took me a week to really get into it.
