FFVII Remake Demo

[Gamma]

So the demo for this has been out for a little while, anyone checked it out?

I generally don't play JRPGs but like many others I loved this back in the day so I was kind of excited to take a look. The demo just takes you through the Mako Reactor at the start of the game. It looks and sounds really good, and I enjoyed seeing Biggs, Wedge and Jessie with a bit more fidelity than the handful of Gouraud-shaded triangles they consisted of in the PSX version. I genuinely laughed aloud when Barrett sung the end battle tune from the original to himself after a fight, and I suspect there'll be a lot of cool little fan-servicey things like that throughout. Average voice acting and dialogue but it just kind of feels camp so it gets away with it.

Unfortunately, the core gameplay (the combat system) has been entirely revamped and feels like it can't decide whether it wants to be an action game or an RPG. It ends up sucking at both. Why would you mess with this when remaking one of the most popular games in the genre of all time? There's a "classic" option in the demo but that just sets your characters to autopilot, and also sets the difficulty to easy (presumably because the mode imposes a substantial handicap). I enjoyed the way Xenoblade Chronicles handled things with it's realtime combat and MMO-like cooldown timers, but it was it's own game. This is a textbook case of "if it ain't broke..." and is really disappointing, though I'm sure I'm in the minority and this will sell like N95 respirators.

In conclusion, I'd like to thank Squeenix for the demo, which saved me ~$70. I'd sooner replay the original game, which is currently on sale across multiple platforms to promote the remake. If instead you'd like to play a crazy Japanese action game with a few numbers thrown in, I highly recommend Nier: Automata.

[Peppermint Lounge]

Timely post. Was wondering about this.

Nier: Automata reminder is timely too. Been playing nothing but shooters in conventional settings these past months.

[flipswitch]

So this is out now in Australia..

[Twiztid Elf]

Yup. Picked mine up earlier today.

EDIT: Two hours in and WOW. This shit is AMAZING!

[Vince]

I haven't been keeping up at all with this release, but this is the full game, right? I originally heard it was going to release in chapters, but is that NOT the case with FF7 remake?

[Ambrose Burnside]

It's the Midgar portion of Final Fantasy VII, but padded out to be the length of a regular Final Fantasy game.

It's releasing in three parts.

I'm waiting until 2050 (or whenever) when all three parts are available on PC

[AgOnNy]

Do we know the expected game play length?

[Rorschach]

Picked my copy up yesterday before the government ban hammer drops on supermarkets. Was like wading through zombies to get it though. I’m on leave now for two weeks, will be perfect to pass the time away along with Persona 5 Royal.

[GeneraL CyberFunK]

I started it last night.. just quickly got through what was on the demo.. a lot quicker this time since I had an idea of what I was doing. I must say I am enjoying the combat a lot. I'm not that much further past where the demo stops.. am just on a train.. but it does look mighty fine though I'm trying to work out how they string the game out for.. well.. fuck knows how many more chapters..

As someone who never played the original.. only just watched my "friend" as he selfishly played and never offered me a play through.. so I'm interested to see how I go with this.. and then to jump into the orginal.

I mean - we've got the time

[flipswitch]

Yes, jump into the original but only when you’ve played all parts!. I too haven’t played the original. I don’t think I was interested in RPGs back them.
Review embargo ends in two days.

[t0mby]

I fell for the hype of the original. Bought an import copy, didn't know wtf was going on at first as I had no idea it was a turn based RPG. Made it to the end of the first disc before realising I couldn't load the second due to the disc swapping trick to get imports to run (this was before those modchips came out). Even though I made it pretty far I realised that I'm not a massive fan of rpgs heavy on item management. I've tried with many games to look past this, but it's not for me. Even Witcher 3 pushes my buttons in that regard but I gave it a free pass because if how good the game is.

[Rorschach]

I played the original to death but never finished it. I got caught in a loop at the end of endlessly levelling up my character to be as strong as possible but never made the final push into the final encounter. Was funny, I was super God-like in power but then one day stopped playing. No idea what happened to the memory card that had that save.

[GeneraL CyberFunK]

I'm enjoying it.

It is so fucking pretty to look at. I keep standing in door and marvelling how the light changes the outside world.

The combat sometimes feels a bit button mashy but I'm getting used to the finer details of how it all works.

Since I didn't play the original - I don't know what is original and what is new so far but the game has pretty much done Shenmue 1 in terms of little girls and cats, a motorbike scene and randoms wandering the streets.

Overall - while I am enjoying it - the hook of the game/story hasn't happened yet.. but I'm keen enough to press on.

[Twiztid Elf]

As someone who has played through the original a few times, I can tell you, the fan service and nostalgia is cranked up to 11.
Seeing these beloved characters, Cloud, Barrett, Tifa, Aerith, Jessie, Wedge and Biggs like this, gets me right in the feels.
I'm about 8 hours in, and really enjoying it.
Tip: you definitely want to assess your opponents and exploit their weaknesses. Not all the time, but there are definitely battles where it will make things much smoother.

[Rorschach]

It's a shame its broken into three parts. My least favourite part of the original game was the City. The moment I could get out into the world and on the ship especially, the game really came into its own. Have yet to play, just installed the data disk. Have a week of leave starting tomorrow so this and P5 will be my main go to games.

[GeneraL CyberFunK]

Tip: you definitely want to assess your opponents and exploit their weaknesses. Not all the time, but there are definitely battles where it will make things much smoother.

Yup - the Monster Hunter World in me has trained me to assess everything!

I think that if they released this game as a whole.. and at this quality - it would be a true repeat of how the original came out. I may not have ever directly played it but I recognise that the game stepped up the quality of RPGs to a level not seen on.. well.. consoles or anywhere.

This game definitely does have a beauty to it. I'm assuming FFXV is similar in it's battle mode and style.. so I will definitely jump into that too.

[Ambrose Burnside]

Critical consensus seems to be great game, but full of unnecessary padding.

So what was to be expected then considering they've extended a ~5 hour segment to ~30 hours.

The Hobbit of videogames.

[Gamma]

If the people who consider it a great game are saying it's padded, I can't imagine how much of a drag it'd be if you weren't onboard with the combat system. Definitely sitting this one out, might give it another look when they finish the whole thing.

[flipswitch]

It's a shame its broken into three parts. My least favourite part of the original game was the City. The moment I could get out into the world and on the ship especially, the game really came into its own. Have yet to play, just installed the data disk. Have a week of leave starting tomorrow so this and P5 will be my main go to games

I’m split between these two games, but I’m swaying towards P5R. I know they’re big games, particularly FF, but I feel like something less intense and more relaxing, and I still have AC:NH on Switch. In other words, I like buying and not completing games!

And for the record I have P5 but put very little time into it..

[Rorschach]

A week on and haven't touched it. My yard is a jungle plus the wife uses the TV most nights. FFVII was an impulse buy, moreso because it dropped early and it was payday. I personally want to play Royal first but I'm a little torn. I've completed about 80% of the original. I might finish it first and instead of a new game plus (at this stage) I'll play Royal instead. The PS4 is killing it at the end of its life. I'm getting both consoles next gen but buying the PS5 first.

Edit - I want Animal Crossing but the damn thing is sold out everywhere. The only places stocking it are jacking the prices up. I'd buy digital but would rather pay less for a box copy. Anyone who doesn't want their copy let me know...

[Twiztid Elf]

[Twiztid Elf]

SPOILERS
This is the video you need to watch when you're finished.

[Candy Arse]

Going on the record - this remake is AMAZING.

I love the shit out of it, the combat system is as deep as anything seen in games like Ninja Gaiden, Bayonetta etc. Probably even moreso.

When you first start you initially think it's a button masher. Button mashing will get you wiped out in this game.

[Twiztid Elf]

Always good to have more, qualerty

[flipswitch]

Looks like it’s doing really well.