Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Pt. 2 Rebirth

[juanlien]

Originally Posted by GreyZone

It better have Japanese voices available. If it doesn't I won't buy it no matter what. Can't stand the English ones, although it was OK for the trailer at least.

agree with you

[NAJ P. Jackson]

The english voice acting in this game is superb imho. Most of voices are spot on for the characters.

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by Kanon

So, in the end, do you think this game ended up being friendly to newcomers?

Spoiler for Ending spoilers:

I mean, it does a great job introducing the main characters and setting up the main plot, but the major storyline of this installment itself revolved around the Whispers in the end. I can't help but think someone who hasn't played the original would be quite lost. The Zack scene in particular must make no sense. It's already confusing enough for OG players

It's also quite clear after playing the game and reading interviews that this remake is not meant to replace the original. I don't know about you, but I've actually been itching to replay the original (haven't done so since the compilation came out, I think) to refresh my memory and find out what exactly was changed. If I had known the story was going to be a sequel of sorts, I would have replayed it before. In fact, I didn't replay it on purpose to enjoy the story anew, which kinda ended up backfiring on me. I'm sure there are a ton of stuff I didn't pick up on. The game just so happens to be on promotion on the PS store right now, which is definitely not a coincidence. They have anticipated people, both new and old players, would want to (re)play it.

To be fair, even those who played the original are lost on the ending

I don't think they expect us to fully make sense of the ending. It's a sequel hook.

[JagdPanther]

I watched the final trailer today... Not sure I've seen a more spoilerific trailer ever. I mean, while I know this game isn't a 1:1 remaster, it's still based on a timeless classic... so a lot of plot points will be known anyway.

But it does seem like they gave away a lot.

[Tactics]

Originally Posted by Kanon

So, in the end, do you think this game ended up being friendly to newcomers?

Spoiler for Ending spoilers:

I mean, it does a great job introducing the main characters and setting up the main plot, but the major storyline of this installment itself revolved around the Whispers in the end. I can't help but think someone who hasn't played the original would be quite lost. The Zack scene in particular must make no sense. It's already confusing enough for OG players

It's also quite clear after playing the game and reading interviews that this remake is not meant to replace the original. I don't know about you, but I've actually been itching to replay the original (haven't done so since the compilation came out, I think) to refresh my memory and find out what exactly was changed. If I had known the story was going to be a sequel of sorts, I would have replayed it before. In fact, I didn't replay it on purpose to enjoy the story anew, which kinda ended up backfiring on me. I'm sure there are a ton of stuff I didn't pick up on. The game just so happens to be on promotion on the PS store right now, which is definitely not a coincidence. They have anticipated people, both new and old players, would want to (re)play it.

I'd say this game managed to do very well on telling people to play OG FF VII, which I believe to be Kitase and Nomura main goal considering development time until next installment and potential that next installment might derail even further following first installment outcome (LOL).

Since this game released I saw fair amount of comparison and potential Remake plot change or simply 'Should I play OG FF VII now?' discussions. I'd say that's a very positive outcome; then again, let's not forget how it became more challenging for both sides in future as next installment will have everyone learn OG FF VII, some might dig deep to Compilation games, hopefully Nojima, Kitase and Nomura ready for that.

Originally Posted by NAJ P. Jackson

The english voice acting in this game is superb imho. Most of voices are spot on for the characters.

That reminds me, for dub, I missed previous Sephiroth VA (example: Dissidia); hopefully he became better for Sephiroth next appearance.

[cyberdemon]

Originally Posted by Tactics

That reminds me, for dub, I missed previous Sephiroth VA (example: Dissidia); hopefully he became better for Sephiroth next appearance.

He was the only English VA I really wish they had just kept him in the remake.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

What's wrong with the current Sephiroth ENG VA?

[Tactics]

Originally Posted by Obelisk ze Tormentor

What's wrong with the current Sephiroth ENG VA?

Hopefully he (and Zack dub VA for Remake) learn more about their characters by next installment of Remake.

Spoiler for Example of the old dub; may contain spoiler:

YouTube

https://youtu.be/zUV91UA3zI4

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by Shadow5YA

To be fair, even those who played the original are lost on the ending

I don't think they expect us to fully make sense of the ending. It's a sequel hook.

I did say it was confusing for us too. But new players must be confused by a lot more than that. The game raises tons of questions for new players and answers very little, and I'm not sure people are willing to wait years to get the answers. Hence the interest in playing the original game, the Whispers being one more incentive.

I think they chose a good approach. Just not sure how many people are willing to play a game that's possibly older than they are.

[FlareKnight]

I'll say the ending on this one kind of pushed me to go and replay the original FF7....and kind of forget about the remake.

Spoiler for Ending:

Frankly in some ways it felt like the remake was declaring war on the original and calling it a bad ending. Pretty sure it being such a well loved game is why there was demand for a remake at all...

But anyways, there's just a lot of unease and concern for me after that. They did a lot well and it felt as if they had a good grasp on remaking the game while adding a fresh touch to it. But then they just declare war on destiny (the original) and the focus for some reason shifts to that.

Certainly have condolences to anyone starting out with the remake since a lot in this game had to be incomprehensible. And all the worst that this reboot of FF7 may be their first experience with it. But hey, maybe many really enjoyed that kind of uncertainty.

Definitely good with people taking what they want from this. And certainly fine with some being really excited. I think a lot of what they did with the remake worked well. But, that ending just doesn't leave me feeling good about it. At least I did give the remake a shot. Can see what the creators want to do here and where their focus is. I'll just pass on the rest of it though. This was effectively the last chance I was ready to give to the Final Fantasy series with honestly a lot of the last few main games just not working for me that well. If the next few parts come out and work out well then who knows. But, I'm ready to put this one back on the shelf and move on.

[Twi]

Spoiler:

The original game's ending was a bad ending. Holy failed and the Lifestream had to be used, humanity was apparently wiped out after 500 years according to an interview, and Sephiroth was impossible to completely kill due to being integrated into the Lifestream. That second and third part came in after Advent Children.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by Twi

Spoiler:

The original game's ending was a bad ending. Holy failed and the Lifestream had to be used, humanity was apparently wiped out after 500 years according to an interview, and Sephiroth was impossible to completely kill due to being integrated into the Lifestream. That second and third part came in after Advent Children.

Spoiler for Ending spoilers for OG and Remake:

Bad ending for humanity, good ending for the planet (Migar is overrun by vegetation, meaning the planet recovered). I guess Remake's goal will be to provide a good ending to both this time.

More of the Ultimania guide was translated. They talked about part 2 and said they wish to give players the same sense of freedom they got after leaving Midgar in the original, but they appear to be unsure how to do it exactly.

[NAJ P. Jackson]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

I'll say the ending on this one kind of pushed me to go and replay the original FF7....and kind of forget about the remake.

Spoiler for Ending:

Frankly in some ways it felt like the remake was declaring war on the original and calling it a bad ending. Pretty sure it being such a well loved game is why there was demand for a remake at all...

Spoiler:

There's no if or buts about it. The OG timeline can be considered a bad end as it's canon that 400 years later humanity is all but extinct. Advent Children made it seem like it ended happily but it doesn't change the fact that humanity's days are numbered. They are not declaring war on it. The devs are just trying to tie that in the overall story.

Originally Posted by Kanon

Spoiler for Ending spoilers for OG and Remake:

Bad ending for humanity, good ending for the planet (Migar is overrun by vegetation, meaning the planet recovered). I guess Remake's goal will be to provide a good ending to both this time.

More of the Ultimania guide was translated. They talked about part 2 and said they wish to give players the same sense of freedom they got after leaving Midgar in the original, but they appear to be unsure how to do it exactly.

Well they did say to expect FF7 events to still play out. That 95% of the game is still gonna stay faithful to the OG but expect that 5% to be something new.

Originally Posted by Twi

Spoiler:

The original game's ending was a bad ending. Holy failed and the Lifestream had to be used, humanity was apparently wiped out after 500 years according to an interview, and Sephiroth was impossible to completely kill due to being integrated into the Lifestream. That second and third part came in after Advent Children.

Spoiler:

Sephiroth exist on cellular level. The only reason he managed to retain his core being and avoided being integrated back into the lifestream is because he made Cloud his Hocrux in Harry Potter term. So long as Cloud has memories of Sephiroth he will never fully die.

There's a theory offered in one podcast that in the Remake future Sephiroth arrived in this new timeline while piggybacking with this Cloud's memories. And that Aerith can potentially stay alive but in exchange Cloud needs to die to trully kill off Sephiroth.

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by Kanon

Spoiler for Ending spoilers for OG and Remake:

Bad ending for humanity, good ending for the planet (Migar is overrun by vegetation, meaning the planet recovered). I guess Remake's goal will be to provide a good ending to both this time.

More of the Ultimania guide was translated. They talked about part 2 and said they wish to give players the same sense of freedom they got after leaving Midgar in the original, but they appear to be unsure how to do it exactly.

I think it's a bit simpler than that.

It's discussed in the Ultimania that Nojima wanted to incorporate all of the Compilation into one game (i.e. the Remake). You can see this with all the nods to Crisis Core, and Hojo's lab design being pulled from the Deepground in Dirge of Cerberus.

Of course, the original never accommodated the Compilation in any way, so naturally they had to rewrite some aspects. Including Crisis Core is easy since it was set in the past, but how would you incorporate Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus when they are set ahead of the events of the original game?

Spoiler for ending:

You introduce time travel.

It's mentioned that the Whispers you fight in the final chapter are not Cloud, Tifa, and Barret, but based on Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo instead.

Remember the last time Sephiroth or any Jenova aspects are seen in the Compilation? Sephiroth's last line is "I will never be a memory" as he leaves Kadaj's body. This could easily be the moment where Sephiroth travels to the past.

For Dirge of Cerberus, it's not a stretch to imagine them incorporating more Lucrecia scenes to make Vincent a bigger part of the main story. Omega WEAPON could also appear along with the other WEAPONs, and more backstory on Vincent's Limit transformations that were covered in DoC could be covered in the Remake instead, since they weren't really touched on in the original.

They could even bring in the Proto Materia to give you control over Vincent's transformations, since his Limits were always uncontrollable in the original.

[Kanon]

Just reached chapter 18 in hard mode. Rufus was annoying as fuck, it was the first boss I had to retry several times. After this, I looked up what strategy people were using and... what? Sleep and stop actually work on bosses?! Decades of playing Final Fantasy have taught me those spells never work, so I never even attempted to use them.

So basically: use them, it will make your life a lot easier.

[Klashikari]

The thing is that the vast majority of people don't pay attention to the actual data found in the assess screen aside of Combat Data and Weaknesses (also pleading guilty of that during my first playthrough since normal was a breeze).
The moment you don't see sleep or stop/slow in any resistance or immunity category, the target is pretty much exposed to it, to a certain degre since you can still see resist, unless it is part of the weakness category.
Also, use R2 to see their skill set. That also helps figuring out what's physical and what's magical for Protect/Manawall.

Or you can simply use counterstance. That skill works for 99% attacks of the game. It trivializes the vast majority of the bosses, particularly humanoids.
Frankly, its cost should have been 2 ATB gauges or have a shorter active window and/or longer vulnerability window.

[MeoTwister5]

Counterstance made the final boss a cakewalk.

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by Klashikari

Or you can simply use counterstance. That skill works for 99% attacks of the game. It trivializes the vast majority of the bosses, particularly humanoids.
Frankly, its cost should have been 2 ATB gauges or have a shorter active window and/or longer vulnerability window.

I do think it's a bit silly that it can counter magic, but the skill needed something to incentivize using it when Punisher Mode counters are for free.

[MeoTwister5]

The thing with Counterstance, as I've encountered, is that it cancels the animation of whatever attack Cloud was in when you activate it. Punisher Mode counters, aside from being melee only, couldn't be used immediately while Cloud's in the middle of an attack.

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

The thing with Counterstance, as I've encountered, is that it cancels the animation of whatever attack Cloud was in when you activate it. Punisher Mode counters, aside from being melee only, couldn't be used immediately while Cloud's in the middle of an attack.

It can, actually. In the frames where you switch from the standard Operator Mode to Punisher, it autocounters. This can be done during Operator Mode attacks as well.