What Are You Playing?

[NightCrawler]

Hi there, it's your CV apologist, remember me?

RE4 was the last RE I played, and I hated it, but at least I still remember it for ruining the franchise for me. 3rd person action does not exist in this dojo.

RE3 was the blandest, most boring one, and I don't remember a single thing from it.
I don't care about Racoon City or bigger environments, and even though RE2 is an amazing game, atmosphere is the most important thing to me, so RE1 takes the top spot, and even though CV has baffling lows, its highs are up there with the most memorable for me. The music and gfx are my favourite, I loved the mix of static and fluid camera, which definitely increased the tension a lot, and perfected the formula of what RE was supposed to be: gothic, campy, clunky (which adds to the oppressiveness).

 

[Aazealh]

Though I agree, I think I'm more partial to REmake over the original than you are (though even REmake is relatively dated at this point). Probably because it has such a cool giant shark sequence! <- Wow that looks dirty!

Honestly, I do feel like it's the definitive telling of the RE1 story, but of course a lot of people probably feel that way now about RE2make for some of the same reasons and I would definitely balk at that.

REmake is cool and I enjoyed it a lot, but for example I think the stuff with Lisa is an unnecessary distraction from what was a fine straightforward plot. And its sole reason for existing is clearly because it mixes things up for those who have already played the original.

Hi there, it's your CV apologist, remember me?

Was wondering when you'd show up! See people, this is the kind of deranged opinion we had to endure back in the day. Some folks just can't help but be on the wrong side of history.

 

[Griffith]

Hi there, it's your CV apologist, remember me?

Whew, I thought it was me!

RE4 was the last RE I played, and I hated it, but at least I still remember it for ruining the franchise for me. 3rd person action does not exist in this dojo.

Mass Effect 2 & 3, HA!

You're just bitter that right when they perfected the formula to create dynamically directed, cinematic horror games they abandoned it to invent Gears of War. =) I can't remember, did you play Dead Space? What about trying the new RE2? It's not particularly action-oriented despite the visual presentation. If nothing else, try RE7, it might be right up your alley.

RE3 was the blandest, most boring one, and I don't remember a single thing from it. I don't care about Racoon City or bigger environments

It's not about bigger environments, but more open and vulnerable ones. Same with Nemesis; the idea there are no doors or safe rooms to hide in. In my mind what RE3 is attempting is much a smaller, more intimate horror concept than the larger-than-life, international operatics of CV. I will credit it with getting back to the exploration of truly evil residences ala RE1 though.

even though RE2 is an amazing game, atmosphere is the most important thing to me, so RE1 takes the top spot

I agree the RE1 premise, environment and atmosphere are the most like a classic B horror movie, even the parts that just feel like big sterile rooms and hallways, but to me RE2 is perfectly realized and the most "real" and immersive, atmospherically or otherwise. It's like Night of the Living Dead versus Dawn of the Dead, or maybe Day of the Dead because the RE2 production values are pretty perfect and it's similarly dark and dirty. Anyway, RE2is just transcendent beyond comparison to movies, other games, real life, whatever.

even though CV has baffling lows

"I CAAAAAAAAN'T!"

its highs are up there with the most memorable for me. The music and gfx are my favourite, I loved the mix of static and fluid camera, which definitely increased the tension a lot, and perfected the formula of what RE was supposed to be: gothic, campy, clunky (which adds to the oppressiveness).

I almost consider it a must-play, or at least a should-play for better or worse, precisely for the reasons you cite above. It's why I've never been able to quit it despite my complaints. It occupies or embodies a unique nexus point in the series in regards to story, graphical, and gameplay emphasis.

Anyway, they should totally do a retro style RE in the mold of the CV engine. Check out the videos of RE2make with fixed camera mods (these are purely conceptual because you'd have to completely change the control interface and lighting to play).

REmake is cool and I enjoyed it a lot, but for example I think the stuff with Lisa is an unnecessary distraction from what was a fine straightforward plot. And its sole reason for existing is clearly because it mixes things up for those who have already played the original.

I don't even remember! So, take that for what it's worth.

Was wondering when you'd show up! See people, this is the kind of deranged opinion we had to endure back in the day. Some folks just can't help but be on the wrong side of history.

This guy was acting really weird. Shuffling and shambling around, uneven on his feet, groaning some unintelligible nonsense that sounded like, "teeveronica." Then he just lunged at me, and... He bit me!

After that I got away, but I'm starting to feel strange, like maybe he had something. I'm sweating and I have chills... Yet my thoughts are preoccupied with the realization that Code Veronica was very underrated...

And certainly one of the finer RE games... maybe one of the best... game ever... Stteee....vee....

April 22nd, 1998

EXIT

 

[Cyrus Jong]

Played River City Girls a few weeks ago. It was alright, pretty decent Beat-Em-Up RPG with great visuals and a funny sense of humor. Controls weren't nearly as responsive as they should've been though, which leads to you getting cheap-shotted way too often, and there aren't any really decent defensive maneuvers for you. Too much downtime as well, as once you knock a mook down, you pretty much have to wait for them to stand back up so you can wail on them some more (and inevitably knock them down again). It's a good thing I bought it on sale, because it's definitely not worth the $30 it normally goes for.

Upon finishing that, I moved on to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Remake Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. I'm having fun with it, though compared to the more advanced Soulsborne-inspired combat mechanics of Salt and Sanctuary, it does feel like a downgrade. Not to mention completely lacking in challenge. Unfortunately, I've recently gotten FF7 Remake earlier than I planned thanks to some generous relatives, and I'm feeling like I'll have to start that sooner rather than later. Really not a fan of putting a game on hold to play something else. Ah well.

It was cool, and a proper spectacle, there was just never any tension because Eredin couldn't even hit me and if he did it didn't matter because he just broke my quen and I could put it right back up. By the end it felt more like I was the boss in this game a weird way.

Hey, I know The Witcher 3 is old news by now, but I just decided to comment anyway. Funny thing about Eredin is that, while the fight against him is a joke, especially in comparison to his two lackeys, it's arguably supported by the lore. You fight him (well, his spectre) at the end of the first game, and he's not much harder there, and even in the books, Ciri is able to best the him in a particularly humiliating way. And this was while she was younger, less experienced, and not yet capable of her crazy teleportation abilities. The King of the Wild Hunt may very well be more bluster than anything.

Lightning. In its light Ciri saw what she wanted to see. The elf raised his sword and swung, leaping onto the bench of the boat. He had the advantage of height. He was sure to win the next clash.

"You ought not to draw a weapon on me, Zireael. It's too late now. I won't forgive you for that. I won't kill you, oh no. But a few weeks in bed, in bandages, will certainly do you good."

"Wait. First, I want to tell you something. Disclose a certain secret."

"And what could you tell me?" he snorted. "What can you tell me that I don't know? What truth can you reveal to me?"

"That you won't fit under the bridge."

He had no time to react, struck the bridge with the back of his head and shot forward, losing his balance completely. Ciri could have simply pushed him out of the boat, but was afraid that wouldn't be enough, that it wouldn't stop her being pursued. Besides, he, whether deliberately or not, had killed the Alder King. And he deserved pain for that.

She stabbed him in the thigh, right at the edge of his mail shirt. He didn't even scream. He flew overboard and splashed into the river, the water closing over him.

On the subject of Geralt and kings, he is something of an anomaly among witchers in that he's the only who actually does contracts for kings, with the first story in particular involving him doing a job for King Foltest. After the first game, Foltest takes him on as a bodyguard of sorts, though being as the second game is called "Assassins of Kings," you can guess how well that goes. And in the books, Geralt also gets officially knighted by Meve, queen of Lyria and Rivia, after he inadvertently saves her life. However, the witcher and his stalwart companions and Dandelion had more important shit to do than serve in her army, so they ducked out on their first opportunity and pretty much soured her opinion of them permanently. And then there is the Emperor of Nilfgaard and the Duchess of Toussaint, who actively seek him out in the main game and Blood and Wine expansions respectively. So...he does certainly get some recognition and demand from the upper echelons of society, moreso than the rest of his kind.

 

[Phonon89]

REmake is cool and I enjoyed it a lot, but for example I think the stuff with Lisa is an unnecessary distraction from what was a fine straightforward plot. And its sole reason for existing is clearly because it mixes things up for those who have already played the original.

I actually liked the Lisa stuff. I guess it retcons a bit of stuff with the nemesis parasite and G-Virus(?)

The OG Resident Evil titles and and REmake 1 are the best at elaborating the story through notes rather than cut scenes and annoying character exposition. So it did not feel overbearing to the the experience. I actually liked that capcom tried to breath a little more life into the mansion. Make it seem like there were actual people with backstories there. One of the few nitpicks I have with Remake 2 is how you can’t walk up to most random objects and examine them unless they serve a gameplay purpose. I enjoyed reading all the little notes from the OG Resident evils when you examine some pre-rendered environment stuff. Of course, I think the pre-rendered graphics lend themselves better to this.

I will admit that I’m a bit biased since REmake was my first full playthrough resident evil. I couldn’t get a playstation as a kid. I adored Resident evil 2 on the N64 but wasn’t allowed to get it at the time due to my age. I’m actually surprised I was able to sneak renting and beating Remake at the time . I actually learned more about lore from games that I could not play from magazines growing up. I remember thinking how EPIC CV looked when I first saw screenshots from an E3 trailer about it

 

[Aazealh]

I actually liked the Lisa stuff. I guess it retcons a bit of stuff with the nemesis parasite and G-Virus(?)

Here's the thing: I also liked it in some ways, but yeah it's just kinda shoved into the plot and she becomes the source of basically everything: T-virus, G-virus, Nemesis parasite... The way they went about her existence also seems strange to me, where she basically escaped the lab guys and had her own little hideout and stuff. It's seems clear to me that the developers built a mechanic for an unkillable monster and then thought up some explanation for it. Oh well, I don't want to complain too much, REmake is a great game by all means.

The OG Resident Evil titles and and REmake 1 are the best at elaborating the story through notes rather than cut scenes and annoying character exposition. So it did not feel overbearing to the the experience. I actually liked that capcom tried to breath a little more life into the mansion. Make it seem like there were actual people with backstories there. One of the few nitpicks I have with Remake 2 is how you can’t walk up to most random objects and examine them unless they serve a gameplay purpose. I enjoyed reading all the little notes from the OG Resident evils when you examine some pre-rendered environment stuff.

Agreed, I also felt that was missing from RE2. Two words for ya: Half. Assed. (lol)

I will admit that I’m a bit biased since REmake was my first full playthrough resident evil. I couldn’t get a playstation as a kid. I adored Resident evil 2 on the N64 but wasn’t allowed to get it at the time due to my age. I’m actually surprised I was able to sneak renting and beating Remake at the time . I actually learned more about lore from games that I could not play from magazines growing up. I remember thinking how EPIC CV looked when I first saw screenshots from an E3 trailer about it

Damn, didn't even know RE2 came out on the N64! Funny thing I remember is that the original Resident Evil completely slipped under my radar as a kid. It's a school mate who told me about playing it, and he was really pumped. I got it some time later because of his excitement for it and it did not disappoint.

 

[Phonon89]

Damn, didn't even know RE2 came out on the N64! Funny thing I remember is that the original Resident Evil completely slipped under my radar as a kid. It's a school mate who told me about playing it, and he was really pumped. I got it some time later because of his excitement for it and it did not disappoint.

Yeah. It’s actually considered superior to the PlayStation version in some ways. They also added the note about that writer whose “life was cut short before his prime.” The same guy from resident evil 3. Again, just expanding the lore through notes. Which is always cool in my book.

N64 has a lot a strange but awesome ports. Like Starcraft. Even though some were inferior it makes me wish they would try harder to port more games to console today. I think people have given up on RTS console games just because of there being no mouse and keyboard. Of course RTS is meant to be played with a mouse and keyboard. But it’s half assed that nobody seems to even try today

 

[Aazealh]

N64 has a lot a strange but awesome ports. Like Starcraft. Even though some were inferior it makes me wish they would try harder to port more games to console today. I think people have given up on RTS console games just because of there being no mouse and keyboard. Of course RTS is meant to be played with a mouse and keyboard. But it’s half assed that nobody seems to even try today

To be fair the RTS genre is basically dead. MOBAs are the craze now, or were until Battle Royale games came along I guess.

 

[Phonon89]

To be fair the RTS genre is basically dead. MOBAs are the craze now, or were until Battle Royale games came along I guess.

Yeah. But all it takes is one good game. There was allegedly a short time where people thought “survival horror” was dead. I don’t think that was a thing as much as the RTS situation. More like people just didn’t know about other “scary” games besides resident evil and silent hill existed.

I’m obviously too much of a big brain for the simpleton gamers of today. Only I can handle resource management in RTS

I seriously never enjoyed DOTA games in WC3 customs though. All the other stuff like Life of a peasant and other obscure games would make for interesting full fledged titles if Dota didn’t get all the attention.

 

[Aazealh]

There was allegedly a short time where people thought “survival horror” was dead.

Well, survival horror as Resident Evil first defined it on the PlayStation is basically dead, it's true. You have to understand that "survival horror" isn't just about third person view horror games, it's about resource management, like I said a few days ago. About having to count your bullets and healing items and plan your trips between safe spots because you've only got one ink ribbon left to save. A game like RE7 doesn't really fit that bill. They keep stuff like limited item slots for old time's sake, but that's it. And there are autosaves and checkpoints everywhere, so there's no real stakes anymore. Play the original RE1 as Chris Redfield and you'll see what Survival Horror really was about.

Of course, the real lesson to get out of this is that "survival horror" was way too narrow and limited a genre to begin with. A last thing to mention is that the cumbersome "tank" controls were wholly part of the experience and accounted for the "genre" too. This is why survival horror is dead, or at least isn't what it used to be. Nightcrawler would tell you Code Veronica was the last true game of that genre, and I agree with that sentiment.

 

[Phonon89]

Well, survival horror as Resident Evil first defined it on the PlayStation is basically dead, it's true. You have to understand that "survival horror" isn't just about third person view horror games, it's about resource management, like I said a few days ago. About having to count your bullets and healing items and plan your trips between safe spots because you've only got one ink ribbon left to save. A game like RE7 doesn't really fit that bill. They keep stuff like limited item slots for old time's sake, but that's it. And there are autosaves and checkpoints everywhere, so there's no real stakes anymore. Play the original RE1 as Chris Redfield and you'll see what Survival Horror really was about.

Of course, the real lesson to get out of this is that "survival horror" was way too narrow and limited a genre to begin with. A last thing to mention is that the cumbersome "tank" controls were wholly part of the experience and accounted for the "genre" too. This is why survival horror is dead, or at least isn't what it used to be. Nightcrawler would tell you Code Veronica was the last true game of that genre, and I agree with that sentiment.

I’m aware of the components that made it special to the PlayStation 1 era. I did not know that resident evil 7 skipped some of that though.

Would you say the OG resident evil 1 is the most unforgiving of the bunch? In regards to having poor resource management can make you prefer to restart the game.

I do agree that what most people considered the “golden age” of survival horror games was too narrow to remain the same beyond how long it lasted. Games like RE0 and CV probably weren’t turning as much a profit as any of the PS1 games (just speculation). Not just because the former titles were launched on two somewhat ill fated systems but the games were moving toward stale terrority. I don’t mind getting rid of stuff like tank controls or fixed camera angles so much as the charm and atmosphere the orignal titles had.

 

[Aazealh]

Would you say the OG resident evil 1 is the most unforgiving of the bunch? In regards to having poor resource management can make you prefer to restart the game.

Probably yeah. RE2 is the one I played the most. I finished it every way possible, without saving, with minimal healing, etc. My perception is that it's less constraining than RE1 as Chris.

I do agree that what most people considered the “golden age” of survival horror games was too narrow to remain the same beyond how long it lasted. Games like RE0 and CV probably weren’t turning as much a profit as any of the PS1 games (just speculation). Not just because the former titles were launched on two somewhat ill fated systems but the games were moving toward stale terrority. I don’t mind getting rid of stuff like tank controls or fixed camera angles so much as the charm and atmosphere the orignal titles had.

Yeah I mean we were all getting tired of these by then anyway, which is why RE4 did the right thing. However the stories and characters were also taken less seriously. That's one thing I'm glad RE7 put some effort towards.

 

[Rhombaad]

I finished Xenogears over the weekend.

Wow. Where to begin? The graphics were great. I loved the look of the detailed sprites on the 3-D backgrounds, and the design of the gears was awesome. Controls were good and I enjoyed the battle system a lot. It was extremely unique (even more so than Grandia's, I thought) and a lot of fun to mess around with. Plus, the combat animations were really cool (especially when Citan gets his sword in disc 2). I also really dug the anime and CG cutscenes.

That was the good. Now let's get int the not-so-good. The game was clearly influenced by Neon Genesis Evangelion, which is both good and bad. There was the often incomprehensible techno-jargon, the fusing of man and machine and the labeling of various persons, places and things with Judeo-Christian names and concepts. But it was also one hell of a mess; disc 2 in particular.

The common belief at the time was that disc 2 was rushed because they ran out of money. In reality, the director was concerned they wouldn't finish on the time, since his team was inexperienced. I'd read about this before playing the game, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be, but disc 2 was still a disappointment. I enjoyed the three or four dungeons you could actually play, but I hated the rushed feeling of the text-based cutscenes.

All in all, it was a mess of a game, but still very enjoyable at times. Much like Evangelion.

Next up is Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith. It took a bit of tweaking, using unofficial patches, but I got it up and running with 3-D acceleration on Monday and I've since finished the first two levels. So far, it's as good as Dark Forces II.

 

[zrexe]

I finished Xenogears over the weekend.

Better late than never! I personally felt that Xenogears was the game closest to Chrono Trigger, in terms of overall oomph.

It had practically every troupe going in its story. The Fei/ID schizo storyline, the reincarnation of Fei/Elly through the ages, from Cain and Abel times, to the Lacan timeline, to Grahf, and finally to Fei. It also contained the Cain/Abel biblical references. There's also the CT-esque city in the sky troupe with Solaris, and the Soylent Green aspect. Also, the Star Wars-esque Vader-Skywalker feel with Grahf and Fei, with ID being the darkside of Fei.

There's just so much to unpack in the Xenogears story. THIS, is the game which deserves the FF7 remake treatment. It actually has enough meat for it.

 

[Tabris]

I really should finish my Xenogears game I started a while ago. As in over a year ago. Soulsborne took over.

I remember way back when that game first came out and my badass Grandma bought it for me for Christmas. I binge played it practically nonstop for the entire Christmas break from school. Game blew my fucking mind at the time. Plus my friends and I were extremely obsessed with Evangelion too, this is felt like the video game version of that to us. Then my friend borrowed it and wrecked it. RIP.

It was also really exciting at the time that the game was supposed to be only one in a series of I think like, 6 games or something at the time? It's too bad none of that ever happened. I know Xenosaga exists but it wasn't the same thing.

So I totally agree, it really does deserve a proper remake. It would be unbelievably cool. But it'll likely never happen sigh. FFVII Remake already seems like a damn miracle to exist as it is.

 

[Aazealh]

There's just so much to unpack in the Xenogears story. THIS, is the game which deserves the FF7 remake treatment.

Did you like the FF7 remake? I've finished it, and I'm dissatisfied with it.

 

[FitPlatinum]

Did you like the FF7 remake? I've finished it, and I'm dissatisfied with it.

Why?

 

[Aazealh]

So here is my Final Fantasy VII: Remake review.

The short version is: I have mixed feelings. I feel like it did some things well and I enjoyed playing it, but I'm not a fan of the overall direction it took with the plot, and I'm not super confident about where they're headed with it. The episodic nature of the project also rubs me the wrong way, or at least the manner in which they're approaching it does.

Now for the long version (heavy spoilers). I'll start with what I like about it. I think the characters were exceptionally well redesigned. They feel modern and brand new while also being very faithful to the original game. During cinematics, the scope of Midgar is also appropriately awe-inspiring. By the end of the game, the Active Time Battle system is enjoyable and allows for some interesting strategy. The original game's OST is easily one of the greatest video game soundtracks of all times and this one makes good use of it with only some light remixing. The weapons, materia and limit breaks also felt very faithful to me and I enjoyed customizing them, although the "upgrade weapon" menu being accessed through a different sub-menu and then a different interface was quite annoying.

To give some context, FFVII was the first Final Fantasy game I played back when it came out, as it was the first game of the series to be released where I live. I loved it and it had a strong impact on me at the time, I spent hundreds of hours on it. I also have not replayed it since then, so my memories of it were fuzzy enough to make me what I deem the perfect candidate to enjoy this game. I also have not played the side games like Crisis Core as they seemed subpar to me.

FFVII Remake succeeded in that I was hooked right from the beginning, I absolutely loved the intro sequence and first reactor mission, and I thought the side missions in the Sector 7 slums with Tifa were good enough as a way to get to know her. After that point it gets more mixed. First, the "Whispers" happened. These guys are one of my main gripes with the game, and not because I don't like their design. I felt the dev team was too heavy-handed with them throughout the game and that it got worse at the end (obviously). But I'll get back to that later. I also felt that story segments get more drawn out, and not always in a seamless, enjoyable way. For example having to power down lights to cross over to the second reactor in Chapter 6 felt like what it is: busywork. Later side quests in Sector 5 and Sector 6 are also hit or miss. Some I loved, like those with Mireille, and some felt like padding to be able to say "it's a 40 hours game!".

That also applies to main story segment, where it's actually worse. Getting back from the sewers after Corneo to the tower takes way too long, it's drawn out for no good reason, and the train graveyard segment would probably have benefited from being moved to a different part of the story, or at least from being handled differently. Don't have Tifa tell me every 3 minutes that she's worried and we gotta hurry up, but maybe not, but what if, and then have a "ohhh I'm scared of ghosts" sequence while the timer is still running. It just doesn't work and it's bad storytelling. There should be a sense of urgency, and it can't be there if you drag it for too long and interspace it with unrelated stuff.

Another thing: fleshing out the story is good. Great. That mission with Jessie to get other explosives? Sure. I liked it a lot, even though I think the character of Roche has no reason to exist. Or more specifically, had no reason to survive that fight and act like a rival that'll be returning. This is made worse by the fact he doesn't return, so he's going to intervene in later events that take place around the world. Anyway, yeah so fleshing out the story is good, as long as it's well done. The pillar fight was clumsy and awkward to me. Biggs and Jessie's deaths were cheesy and too squeaky clean for my taste. This is meant to be a gritty "makopunk" world, but it's also filled with potions and phoenix downs. If someone's gonna die, show me that they're actually badly wounded and not just lightly covered in dirt.

Beyond that, the fight with Reno and Rude is really poorly done. So you beat them up enough that they can't stand... and then they still achieve their goal and escape. What that means is: the main characters are incompetent idiots. This could have been done much better with minimal changes. Have Rude start the countdown after the helicopter crash, while everybody looks over there thinking he's dead. Then, after they're defeated, have the two of them escape while the team tries to stop the system. Or have a fucking drone press the button, but just showing Rude overpowering both Tifa and Cloud after being beat is dumb. Either I win or I lose, but don't make me lose after I've won.

Now about the plate falling. Like I said earlier, the scope of the city is breathtaking in cinematics. But that contrasts jarringly with the sectors themselves as you experience them. They're WAY too small. Now of course Square wasn't going to recreate a megalopolis in its entirety. But they should have instead made it clear you were only seeing a portion, a small part of each sector. Instead we have this dissonance of a huge scale... that turns out to be a place housing maybe 50 people? Again, this would have been easy to fix. A simple mention of "the area where we lived, around Seventh Heaven, was mostly spared... but they weren't so lucky further into the sector, they didn't have time to escape". Bam, done. One sentence.

Another thing: Shinra are the bad guys, I get it. But do they have to be so caricatural? The war with Wuhai stuff I thought was a fine addition. A fitting modernization, and kind of explained by the whole plan about creating other Mako Cities. But I felt like there was an opportunity to show a more contrasted view, with greedy, immoral corporate bastards, sure, but also a real desire for technological progress, even if misguided. On the other hand, our heroes are wiping out guards and other nobodies, but they won't off Reno and Rude on the pillar even though these guys are about to kill "tens of thousands" of people... why? Again, makes no sense in the context, especially since they get bested immediately after. Their leniency killed everybody. That goes for President Shinra too. Guy's obviously an evil fuck, so it's hard to believe Barret would spare him. I get that it's done to show that Barret is a principled man, but honestly, he's the leader of a terrorist cell. He's made his choices.

That's yet another thing: Barret's team is now just a cell within a bigger Avalanche organization. I can see the logic behind it, but I don't like it. It lessens their role and Barret's engagement. It also brings absolutely nothing to the table. Why not have made Barret the leader of Avalanche, and have other less central layers to the organization? Have Biggs, Jessie and Wedge be the main lieutenants, the people he can trust, and the rest of the members be common people. Not an organized para-military group with unknown motivations. Barret could have still trusted only these guys for the reactor missions, and could have still needed Cloud because he's referred by Tifa and an ex-SOLDIER, i.e. not a pushover against Shinra.

Back to Shinra, having a secret lab below Sector 7 felt overkill to me in the "evil megacorp" department, even though I enjoyed it gameplay-wise. Even Barret wonders how they could have possibly built it beneath their feet, and you know why? They couldn't have, that's the thing. The Shinra tower section felt drawn out to me, especially Hojo's lab. The Cthulhu boss was great, loved it. But THEN you're trapped in his maze like mice, mhuahahahha! Fuck off with that shit. Yeah OK have me do one or two of these and then have Red XIII turn the tables on him or something. But four? And he's still satisfied in the end? Meh. The Sephiroth confrontation I wasn't a fan of either, and I'll expand on that later. I thought the Rufus fight was good, and the motorcycle escape from Midgar was as good as they could have possibly made it, so kudos to them for that.

So about Sephiroth. I get that he's the main bad guy and all, and that Cloud is supposed to be obsessed with him (this being a Berserk forum, I have to point out that this was definitely inspired by Guts & Griffith in Berserk). And I get that they had to work him into the story somehow, even though in the original he's only revealed later. I actually think the way the original story set it up was much better though, and I think they overdo it with Sephiroth here. Now I can't really mention this without getting back to the Whispers, because it's kinda linked. So the Whispers are trying to keep "Destiny" from changing. They're basically the old fans' expectations for what the story should be that the developers had to contend with, or the legacy of the first game. In short it's just meta bullshit.

Now, I get wanting to change details of the story. It's to be expected, and it was done in this game, and it's fine. But when you make it a central plot point, that can only be justified one way: you're going to alter something major to the story, so important in fact that you have to prepare the player for it long in advance. Translated: they're going to have Aerith not die. I started to suspect that early on, basically when Cloud began not only having flashbacks during his episodes but also flashforwards. That's nonsensical, so it could only mean they were going to do something with alternate realities and stupid shit like that. And it's what they did. And I think it's stupid.

More specifically, I think they were too heavy-handed with the Whispers and it was too transparently a plot device so they could do whatever they wanted. It's not all bad though: when Sephiroth kills Barret at the tower I was shocked, and when the Whispers undo it I was like "Ok you fuckers I get it". But at that point they've hammered you over the head with it during minor events, so it was less impactful than it could and should have been. Now here's the other thing: I'm not actually convinced they won't kill Aerith. Will they have the balls to do it? It's such a key event that I'm not sure. And that's the kicker, because literally any other event aside from this one would NOT warrant this Whisper bullshit. I felt the Whisper stuff really made the game's story more convoluted than it already was (and it is already a very convoluted story), and were a distraction from the plot. So if it's just to change minor shit that old fans like me don't even remember (or barely), then it was a deeply stupid decision to include them.

Moving on, I'm not sure I even want them to let Aerith live anyway. I mostly like her portrayal in this game, and it's great they gave her more focus. But I don't want Barret to die instead either, or Red XIII, or Tifa. Aerith dying made sense in the overall plot because she's "the last living Ancient". And I'm up for her living too, why not, but only if it's perfectly well executed. Because if it's just to have her reunite with fucking Zack (who's also alive...?), I'm going to be mad. Zack was just the first guy she fucked, making him her soul mate beyond time and space, having them reunited in the lifestream like in Advent Children, that's the corniest shit ever. She's supposed to be falling for Cloud right now (who I admit has pretty much usurped Zack's identity lol), and she's shown doing just that in the game too so the Zack stuff feels conflicting (more on that later).

Still about her portrayal, the Aerith/Tifa/Cloud love triangle is a mess here. They tried to make Aerith and Tifa instant BFFs but they overcompensated and at several points it's just a little too much. The Aerith voice actress almost feels like she's flirting, which is compounded by Cloud acting as the third wheel. They're meant to be rivals in love, and I like that they're shown to get along well and all, but I just felt they didn't quite catch the right nuance of the situation. And by focusing so much on Aerith, it takes away from Cloud as well. At the end, Aerith is shown leading the group, and it's implied she knows all there is to know about Sephiroth... While Cloud just says nothing. That's not how it's supposed to be. Cloud is the one with experience here (Tifa too), he's the dude hallucinating about Sephiroth every three hours. It's a case where by trying to add more, they actually lessened the story.

On character portrayals, Cloud is also super awkward. The original game is terse and low poly so you have room to imagine him as a cold, silent kinda guy. But here he can go from standard hardass SOLDIER cool dude having sarcastic but normal conversations and social skills to being unable to high five someone as if he had a serious cognitive deficiency. That's just incoherent and unrealistic. Tifa sobs her heart out on his shoulder but it takes him a full minute to laboriously put his arms around her? And then he squeezes like he's in the WWE? Again I get what they're going for, but it wasn't well executed. His grunts and pauses are also awkwardly timed sometimes. This is made all the more frustrating by the fact that at other points they really nail it. My favorite characters this time around were probably Barret and Tifa, and Jessie I guess, who I feel they really did justice to.

So about the ending. It's very obviously a "we had to end this on a big battle and we didn't know how to transition to it" thing. Sephiroth appears and creates a portal to an alternate dimension where the heroes fight DESTINY ITSELF. Again, if that shit isn't about saving Aerith from death, then it will have been a huge waste of time. Then after that fight (it's not very memorable IMHO) you randomly transition to fighting Sephiroth, because of course they had to. That was the equivalent of recent Zelda games just teleporting you in a field at the end to fight the N64 Ganon on horseback while Zelda's shooting Light arrows, regardless of what form and story are in the game. And like, sure, how could they NOT have done that. I can't even say I didn't enjoy it, because the nostalgic music was there to get me pumped up. But it's nonsensical and it didn't have to be.

I guess a nonsensical plot is just a must-have for a Final Fantasy VII game or something. Speaking of nonsensical, I still don't understand that "Zack is alive, but in an alternate dimension" thing. So Zack actually sees the Whispers surrounding Midgar in real time as he confronts the Shinra soldiers. He survives and he and Cloud pass by the group and Aerith... Not sure if it's meant to be an echo of the past that has been changed, or a bona fide alternate dimension, which would really make no sense at all. Will Zack-who-secretly-lives actually take the Masamune bullet that was meant for Aerith, heroically saving her life and making her a neutral grieving widow so Cloud & Tifa can still become pseudo-lovers? The suspense is killing me here (no, but that shit does get on my nerves).

Something also worth pointing out is that the decision to end at Midgar is responsible for a lot of these problems. Part of what made the original FFVII great was that Midgar was just the beginning of it. The full game was huge. Now I get that they couldn't do the full game, but pushing it till the Temple of the Ancients would have made for a grand finale, they could have had their last battle against Sephiroth AND the HARBINGER OF FATE, and saved Aerith. Would have been a fucking masterstroke that I would probably have teared up at. It also would have allowed them to do Red XIII justice instead of him being a token NPC, which I did not like at all because I love his character. They never even focus once on his Solar Ray attack, it's just in the background a few times. Pfffffffffff. Beyond that, it would have also given them a bit of an open world to let the players wander in after finishing the main story. As it is, replaying story chapters while keeping your equipment and XP is kind of cumbersome and uninviting.

It's a direct consequence of how the Midgar segment of the story was conceived in the original game, and they should have anticipated that it wouldn't lend itself to what they were attempting to do. I'm also surprised they weren't more ambitious with the scrap yards and other such transition zones where you fight enemies. There's just not enough roaming enemies in this game, to the point that it almost all could be scripted. This is kind of a big problem on the gameplay side, because I felt like they saddle you with the full combat mechanics too early, when blocking or evading is barely even worth learning, and by the time materia/equipment strategies and the complexity of the gameplay become interesting, well the game's almost over. That means most of the good combat is done in arena battles and post-game replay chapters. I'm sorry but that's just not how it should be. It shows bad pacing.

Speaking of combat, obtaining Materia through Chadley felt super cheap and lame to me. Fighting VR battles against summons? Ok, why not, cool. Having Chadley make summon materia from nothing? Lame. The character in general sucks, by the way. A Shinra R&D intern turned traitor? Really? And he's like 12? Hojo and all the other Shinra bozos can't get shit done with their research other than creating freaks, but this little shit is producing rare materias by the dozen? That felt like a cheap cop out to ensure you'd get summons in Midgar. I wasn't a super big fan of how these work in-game either. Maybe it could be made to work better, but I don't know, it felt kinda off. Limit breaks were handled better I thought, although still not perfectly. Not enough focus put on them when you're not controlling the character for example. And it's really just in the last few boss battles that they're useful.

One more thing that's annoying on the gameplay front: I'm sure the next game won't take your gear or progress into account. It'll unlock some bullshit bonus, but maxing out materias will do jackshit, and you'll have to remax them, or maybe you'll start with 3-starred materias and their max will be 10 or something. It'll be weird. What's the max level going to be, 999? I'm already level 40 here. This feels lazy and not well thought-out to me. It makes the story seem disconnected.

To conclude... Mixed feelings, like I said. The graphics, the characters, the music... They evoke strong emotions for an old fan. This is not a bad game. I enjoyed playing it. But it still fell short of my expectations, and mostly because of what the developers chose to do or not do with it. That makes me very uncertain about the next title in the series. I'm afraid they're high on stupid incoherent plot twists and alternate timeline ideas instead of focusing on upgrading the original story. In the end, the word "remake" is a misnomer here, as this is more of a reboot, and even gets in sequel territory. I also have to point out that some of the plot points must be simply impossible to understand for someone new to the story. That's not a good thing. All I can say is I hope they do a better job with the following games, and that they don't fuck up.

 

[zrexe]

Did you like the FF7 remake? I've finished it, and I'm dissatisfied with it.

Unfortunately not yet. It will be next game up, after I finish Death Stranding.

And to be really honest, I really am not looking forward to the game, since it only takes place in Midgar. I am also worried that it will go the way of Kingdom Hearts, which went full retard on the complexity. When will people realise that there's value in simplicity of story. Not many games can pull off what Xenogears have done, which is to have simplicity layered on complexity. However, even they fucked it up with Xenosaga, by trying to expand upon the original story.

 

[Griffith]

Final Fantasy VII Remake - This is going to jump around a bit since I'm largely importing and augmenting my side of conversations with Walter and Aaz over the course of my playthrough. For that reason I tried to organize and format it a bit as pro/con.

Pros:

I actually didn't hate it! I mean, they really did some of the out there stuff we've joked about around here where you're basically transcending FF7 to fight FATE and Sephiroth on the literal "edge of creation" and it's just a bunch of muddled bullshit, but fuck it, I probably would have felt unsatisfied if you'd just fought a battle bot and left town. TO BE CONTINUED. Sure, it's FF7 "remake," it's FF7-2, we're going to go beyond FF7, but pick up right where the game left off leaving Midgar, or we might do something completely different this time! The Catch 22 is I'll accept revisionist BS so long as they only do it on top of painstakingly recreating the original game's scenario, rather than creating a new one now, but, "The Unknown Journey Will Continue."

So, it was a good time overall and they managed to not fuck it up enough to completely alienate me. Just the characters and the music are probably enough to get by (Barret is like a star now, "They're up your ass." =). Hell, even the musical changes during the dumb final fate fights were cool enough that I couldn't help but enjoy the show.

This game actually addresses one issue I had with the original, or makes an improvement, that stems back to FF8 of all things. I didn't like FF8, but thought it had a fantastic ending sequence for all the characters, good and bad alike. FF7 was great for grand storytelling, set pieces galore throughout including the ending and that awesome afterward that tells you everything you need to know. But, unfortunately the character animations and interactions were pretty limited by the tech at the time, even in the FMVs, so it couldn't have those intimate wow moments like FF8 could. I was always envious FF7's characters didn't get to benefit from those advances in their FMV animations, and after the dreary lameness of Advent Children missed the mark this one finally sort of gave me that satisfaction.

I even like weird Neo-Aerith's personality, right down to the finish where Cloud didn't miss her and her adorably casual "screw him" of Sephiroth.

I probably didn't need all the extra shit though, just something better approximating the original would have been nice, but I guess this is bigger, FF7 the ongoing franchise or something now. This is their back door to endless genuine sequels too, because it'll be to this reboot, not the precious original. You can't just make FF7 2, but you can keep going with this quasi-reboot.

The ending story material was largely incomprehensible, but the trick is in different ways depending on if you're already initiated or not. So, for a general audience completely new to this it provides a big rousing spectacle, however nonsensical, and for old fans it's basically building on the original FF7, which of course makes me want to know more (they also wisely didn't really commit to anything, so it's still wide open to a faithful or radical follow up). However messily, it kind of worked; God help me I'm still intrigued!

Cons:

My issues started when you get a flashforward of Aerith's death. I almost joked in this thread that Cloud's flashbacks somehow extend to the future now, LOST style, and of course they couldn't help showing Aerith's death before it happens since this game is stepping all over future story beats to make the section it covers more substantial. This is when I got scared of what they were going to do at the end of this game to justify its conclusion as a big finale. I'm expecting anything going forward now, Aerith dies early, Cloud dies (Barret died!), some meta bullshit like an FF7 multiverse, and we gotta get Aerith from another FF7 dimension (FF7 meets Kingdom Hearts and Rick & Morty). I hope I'm completely wrong of course and they play it relatively straight, I'm just bracing myself. Hopefully the Whispers are just for some artistic liberties, but the whole Dark Tower "this has happened before, multidimensional, Cloud's remembering the original FF7 because this is a quasi-sequel" thing seems awfully tempting for them to pass it up. They gave this Aerith almost too much personally to kill her as a symbolic martyr of purity and goodness. I don't think it would be smart to bring Aerith back though, it's basically the crucifixion for the church of FF7. There's a reason Jesus never comes back, Aerith shouldn't either. She died for our sins!

They actually had an opportunity to kind of streamline or better explain the plot, fill the holes and such, instead they introduced more problems and the pacing issues are insane; rather than doing a fraught, daring infiltration mission I feel like my characters has basically moved into apartments in the Shinra building. They could probably call themselves interns for Hojo ala Chadley, just throw on some lab coats. Plus, everyone seems to know everything going on and is either secretly in on it or doesn't care, "Hey, Sephiroth the super soldier that went crazy and massacred an entire village and his own men is in the building." Everyone: "Whatevs. Cool, I guess?"

They added so many new monsters and bullshit it begs the question why they didn't just use that time to do half or even a third of the game now instead of like an 8th of it, especially since they have to retrofit mid-game content and themes into this game's Shinra building section. Of course you have a final battle with Sephiroth here, or at least a clone; and we'll fight him at the end of every part. Sephiroth's buildup and formal introduction in the original game was so much cooler, and long before you actually saw him, because he just fucking killed everybody and was already gone!

I also didn't like the sidelining of Red XIII as an unplayable NPC essentially, especially since he'd have been playable for a good chunk of the end portion and post-game. Maybe this is technically accurate to the original, but I could swear he became available soon after freeing him, and even if that's not the case it'd definitely be a welcome change since this is our only time with him in this format they chose and they have him fighting with you anyway. I mean, if they can bring that fat loser Wedge back to life, they can let me play as Red XIII (and Wedge better be dead now =). I was actually most annoyed at Biggs being alive at the end just when I thought the ghosts did the right thing and course-corrected Wedge. Nobody is going to die in this thing!

On the other hand, I got really tired of switching my preferred gear and materia around as they arbitrarily jerk around who's available in my party before switching it up again after one or two fights!

Some of these subplot choices... at least Johnny, annoying as he is, is from FF7, whereas Leslie is just made up and I have no idea why. To give Corneo's faceless goons a personality? Did we need more drama 101 subplots? It was fine, but arguably a net negative given the attention paid to it.

The final chapter and THE TURNING POINT where now you're in the Destiny Dimension fighting FATE zords or something was like, "WUT?" They're managing to augment everything bad about supposed FF7 lore instead of just focusing on the cool motorcycle chases, robot fights, and the awesome moment you discover the whole wide world. That stuff and the character relationships were what was nice about the game, not the lore, which is why every spinoff sucked, and you know, this isn't so different from shit like Crisis Core or the Vincent action shooter except it has access to/is blessed by the real canon. But this is like the lore on drugs. FF7: Genisys!

They've pretty much just made it so "anything goes." The irony is from what I read they don't actually intend to really take advantage to redo a new plot, but probably just give them wiggle room and justify a climatic Sephiroth battle for the end of each installment by creating this meta dimension outside time. It's a lot of effort and handwaving for a very unambitious purpose.

Which ironically undercuts any effort to please the fans because the last thing they want is some off the wall bullshit like this being tossed in. My big fear with this was always that it would be FF7 retrofitted as the "Special Edition" prequel companion to Advent Children, revealing the only reason FF7 was as good as it was originally is because technology limited how outlandishly bad they could make it at the time.

I still think they intend to do the rest largely true to the original, but could easily see them cutting bait if the overhead on this project is too ridiculous and sales are mediocre. Actually, they're probably too invested for that so they'll just have to do a really half-assed job on one or two more (the FF7 trilogy!) ala Capcom, which I might prefer if that just means sticking closer to the original and wrapping this shit up in more straightforward fashion, but they'll probably go the RE3 route and make the Cliff's Notes version before it's over, "Cait Sith, Cid, Vincent, and Yuffie will not be appearing as playable characters... but you can control Red XIII in part 2!" =)

I won't be too disappointed either way though, because, like I said, this isn't so much a remake of FF7 as it is a different game based on that one's plot, FF7: The Action Game! It's like calling Umbrella Chronicles a remake of the Resident Evils. This isn't the ultimate version of FF7, this is just something else altogether.

 

[Aazealh]

After these reviews, I have to put it out there that right now I'm kind of wishing for a nice "HD remaster" of the original game. I went to check out how it looked after playing FF7R and boy, the graphics certainly have aged. And yet... It would take some work to redo the backgrounds, 3D models and cinematics in higher quality, but not that much work either. I guess this shows how uneasy their tinkering with the plot makes me regarding the rest of the story.

 

[Griffith]

After these reviews, I have to put it out there that right now I'm kind of wishing for a nice "HD remaster" of the original game. I went to check out how it looked after playing FF7R and boy, the graphics certainly have aged. And yet... It would take some work to redo the backgrounds, 3D models and cinematics in higher quality, but not that much work either. I guess this shows how uneasy their tinkering with the plot makes me regarding the rest of the story.

Well, however one feels about the story tweaks and changes, I think they've fulfilled their obligation to remake it BIG, too big as a matter of fact, enough that they can still just farm out an HD Remaster to one of the usual suspects that specialize in such work. I'd be happy to have both.

 

[Aazealh]

Well, however one feels about the story tweaks and changes, I think they've fulfilled their obligation to remake it BIG, too big as a matter of fact, enough that they can still just farm out an HD Remaster to one of the usual suspects that specialize in such work. I'd be happy to have both.

Yeah, same pretty much. This did whet my appetite for the original game.

 

[Walter]

Well, however one feels about the story tweaks and changes, I think they've fulfilled their obligation to remake it BIG, too big as a matter of fact, enough that they can still just farm out an HD Remaster to one of the usual suspects that specialize in such work. I'd be happy to have both.

The FF7 "Remako" mod is always an option. I've put a few hours into it, and can vouch for it being pretty incredible. I wrote about it on here before, but they used "machine learning" to recreate the CG backgrounds in HD.

Final Fantasy 7 Remako HD Graphics Mod - v1.0 Release Trailer

Return to a Midgar like you've never seen before, in this faithfully remastered graphics mod for Final Fantasy VII (PC). The Remako HD Graphics Mod features ...

www.youtube.com

 

[Griffith]

The FF7 "Remako" mod is always an option. I've put a few hours into it, and can vouch for it being pretty incredible. I wrote about it on here before, but they used "machine learning" to recreate the CG backgrounds in HD.

Final Fantasy 7 Remako HD Graphics Mod - v1.0 Release Trailer

Return to a Midgar like you've never seen before, in this faithfully remastered graphics mod for Final Fantasy VII (PC). The Remako HD Graphics Mod features ...

www.youtube.com

Yeah, Aaz and I actually discussed your suggestion during our conversations (I'm surprised I didn't include it in my FF7 data dump =), but I think the issue is just convenience like having it for Switch or avoiding a lot of setup, plus it'd be nice to have a state-of-the-art version, maybe even with voice acting (not likely given the overlap with this one). I'll probably give the Remako version a try though now that my appetite is similarly craving more FF7. Maybe I'll try to get a save file right after Midgar, just pick up where Remake left me hanging.

BTW Wally, have you had the time or inclination to progress further?