Article: FFVII Remake Confirmed (Coming first to PS4, more to come in winter)

10 Changes the Final Fantasy VII Remake Needs

I should say right away that none of the stupid shit I write here matters.

More than anything, I’m just happy to get the remake I’ve been wanting since the PS2 era. My usual attitude towards remakes is that, if they’re too different, whatever; I’ll always have the wonderful original. To me, this remake’s primary function is to scratch an itch — to answer the question “What if?”

Without it, we’d never know. But in a few years (supposedly), we will know what FFVII would be like if it were made in the new generation. While content to sit back and see what happens, I know some things I’d be pushing for if I were on that dev team.

Slightly Modify Materia System

The materia system lays the groundwork for some very fun RPG combat, but wasn't without problems. What I'd like to see fixed is summon materia, specifically. Your early summon monsters are brutal when you get them, useful for a couple of hours after, and then a huge waste of MP. Even if you get Shiva, Ifrit, or Choco-mog up to level 5, the damage doesn't hold up to one and two-star summons acquired shortly after them. They become pure garbage way too fast. Adjust that.

I'd be interested in combining some materia and other small to moderate changes as well. Or what if more than two materia could link together? Lots of possibilities here.

And while you're at it...

Selectable Difficulty Levels

A conservative estimate says I've spent well over 300 hours in this game world already. That's five or six beginning-to-end runs and a whole bunch of half-completions and picking up from the middle and stuff. And I know I'm not exactly the world champion. So challenge me, Square Enix. Let me know I'm in a fight.

I'm playing this game on my Vita right now, in fact, and this is some easy stuff. Yes, I realize that it's easy because I'm in my 30's instead of in my teens, and because I've learned from in-game experience. But you can bet a whole hell of a lot of people buying this game will have already been through the original, probably multiple times. That's kind of what happens when you're talking about one of the most beloved games of all time.

Just a nice selection of Easy, Normal, and Hard will do nicely, supposing that those descriptions are accurate. If I'm on Hard Mode, the fights when I can just press X to win should be pretty damn rare.

Ruby and Emerald shouldn't be the only tough fights.

More Zackstory Backstory (Spoiler Alert)

This slide contains a HUGE spoiler. If you're new to FF7 and want to go in fresh, skip this. We good? Okay then...

At first I thought maybe Zack's untimely death could be added as the beginning of the new game, but I don't think I want that legendary opening to be replaced. Aeris walking out followed by the bombing mission is so iconic, I do kinda want that to stay. I'd still be cool with a change, though. If Crisis Core's ending is FF7 Remake's opening, that might be kinda cool.

Or maybe added in as a memory in the form of a dream Cloud has one night?

The best way to do it might be to simply expand upon what was shown in the original Final Fantasy VII. Whether that's through inserted flashbacks, memories, soliloquy, or what, I'm not sure. I suppose that's why Nomura's getting the fat director paycheck and not me.

Takeharu Ishimoto

Did you hear the Crisis Core soundtrack? Take a listen to what Takeharu Ishimoto did with those Uematsu compositions. His original stuff is great, perfectly fitting for FF7's dark world; and when you add in his ability to remix Uematsu like a boss, this guy is a shoe-in for the composer. Just look at his picture. Look at him not giving a shit. What a fucking dude.

I'll bet he writes music and then just slides CDs across his boss's desk and says, "Here ya go. I'm out," then pulls out a gun to shoot off the doorknob and walk out. The door wasn't even locked, he shot that fucker just because.

The core music backbone has gotta be the legendary Uematsu compositions, but for new stuff, let Ishimoto do his thing.

Badass Freaking Fight Scenes

Remember that scene of Tifa versus that one dude, in the church, in Advent Children? That was badass. If more of that is inserted, I ain't complainin'.

Improve Graphics Without Wasting My Time

There's a fantastic game series called Yakuza, which regularly makes fun of cheesy direction with its over-the-top sequences of simple things like answering the phone or taking a picture. Please, please, please don't make Final Fantasy VII the very product that Yakuza is satirizing. We don't need epic zooms on boots in water or dramatic camera swoops for shooting a basketball.

I'm excited to see FFVII's world brought to new life with PS4 visuals, but I'm hoping those summon spells can be skipped. Flash and style are great, but not when we have to watch the same 30-to-60-second cinema in every other battle. The original had a problem with that in the summon spells.

Fix the Translation

Good gravy.
The famous "This guy are sick" gets all the jokes, but the script is riddled with more than just grammar errors. Lines that don't make sense, whole speeches that seem to lack context, and other problems actually interfere with the story itself.

Expanded Gold Saucer

I think we can safely say the Gold Saucer could use an extra wing after 18 years, yeah? Even knockoffs of other mini-games that haved been in Final Fantasy over the years would be fine with me, because now they're in FFVII, too. That could be neat.

More Little Surprises, Mysteries, Reasons to Smile

With more power and a bigger world, there are more opportunities to immerse gamers both new and old. As someone who as written shitty stories himself, I know that even after something is finished, you find little side stories in your head that you want to share with the people who liked your work. You want to say "Yeah and you know what else! THIS happened!" In my case, that's to an audience of like eight or nine people, but in Final Fantasy VII's case, you can multiply that by a million or two.

You just know that 18 years later, there are little side stories, fun bits of narrative, and other things they'd love to show us. And I'm ready and willing to eat 'em up.

Aer...um?

To English speakers, the flower girl was originally Aeris, but later Aerith. To the creators, it was the reverse, and her name remains a topic of debate. It was originally written with the 'th' ending, but appeared in the English game with an 's' instead. So which should it be? The name we were supposed to see, or the name we actually did see and consequently grow up with?

Some people cite the Japanese pronunciation, which is certainly closer to "Aeris," because the language lacks anything close to a "th" sound. Even as a Japanese resident, I find this argument weak, because to be consistent, you'd have to also call Cloud "Ku-ra-u-do," and Cid "Shiddo," and so on.

But I like the sound of Aeris better. I don't care for the name Aerith. It feels dumb on my tongue and sounds dumb in my ears. Alas, I know that asking for an entire separate English recording is a bit much. Aw well. It'd be nice to be able to change the text of the names like before, though. If the game is voice acted, will changing names will be allowed? I wonder.

At least for text, give us the option. Please? What if I use a smiley face? :)

Stay tuned for a list of things that should not change.

Meanwhile, here’s an example of Ishimoto’s work in remixing an Uematsu classic, for those of you unfamiliar with Crisis Core and too lazy to look stuff up.

http://www.playstationlifestyle.net...emake-changes-updates-to-ps4-ffvii/#/slide/10
 
Here's my 7 things I want/ NEED to know are going to remain. In order of preference.

1. Story remains the same.
Add a few things if you must, (I've come to accept the Genisis will at least be part of the Cloud's flash backs to some degree).. and remove some little bits if you need to, but if they turn this story on it's head and remove/ alter the iconic parts of the story that made the game what it is (we all know what they are), I'm-a-be-mad. An example of what I'm fearful of them doing is the Evangelion Remake if anyone watches that - It started normal and then turned upside down half way through and it's heading in a COMPLETE opposite direction now. Please don't do this to FF7.. NO ONE wants to see that happen..

2. Early access to a world map.
Story aside, What made this game so great to play, is that it felt like the player lead the way; we lead the story, the story didn't lead us. I want to have access to the world map as early as possible. Sure, stop me from getting to far ahead of course, but give me room to EXPLORE!! I want to do side quests EARLY, I want to miss some things and have a reason to play it twice, three times, four times over and get it 100%. This is another massive one for me.

3. Character roster DOES. NOT. CHANGE.
No new main playable characters, no original ones left out. Period. The balance was perfect, adding anyone to the roster as a gimmick will RUIN it without question. (Again, to give you an example, when the producers of the Evangelion remake added Mari Illustrious)

4. All Characters Playable
I've done A LOT of thinking over the past 10 years or so about this remake, and as time went on it came more and more clear to me that if they ever did do a remake, the battle system would change. And ya know what? Go ahead. I think it might just need updating. We CAN always play the original - it's not going anywhere. BUT, BUT!! Do NOT take away my ability to make the decisions that all characters make in combat. If it's real-time, set it up like kingdom hearts (where those who aren't being directly controlled by the player have a certain element of AI) but give me the freedom to physically change to other characters in combat, and give me GOOD REASON TO. Don't make them smart enough so that they are completely independent - Might be a stretch, but I'm sure they can work something out.

5. Materia System.
This better play a massive part of the game in and out of combat. Make sure that pieces are still hidden in the world for us to find and potentially miss, still be able to level them up in some way, and still be free for everyone to use and NOT put class related restrictions on them. This scares me a little to be honest...

6. Chocobo Breeding/ Racing
A little more light hearted now.. As much as I would love to know and hope that all these little mini game/ side quests are going to remain; I doubt they will.. If this one survives.. I'll be happy enough. All this hub-up about Cloud in a dress doesn't bother to much - They might make a funny reference in the game that acts as a humorous nod to this and other things and I'll be happy with that. As far as IMPROVING goes, sure, give the chocobo system a good ol' spruce up of course, But I wanna see that Gold Chocobo flash onto my screen after hours, NAY, DAYS of hard work in the end.

7. Optional Bosses - Particularly WEAPON
Speaks for itself. Give us those additional challenges. And don't leave holes in the system for the classic 'Pheonix/Final Attack' situations either.

If all of these aspects remain, I'll be super chuffed.
 
I think I'm quite fortunate because FFVII is one of my least favourite Final Fantasy games, but even I'm super excited about this, because I feel like this is a chance for me to get into and fall in love with the game everyone else seemed to think was amazing that I just didn't like as much as the other FF games I love. When I saw the trailer, I literally squealed and a grin totally split my face and I am so happy about this, I watched reactions and got shivers and way too excited every time. I feel like I'm in a much better position than those who are proper lovers of the game, because I'm not going to be so worried about changes.

I do agree with a few others who have said that they want the ability to control more than one character in battle. I want this too, I actually felt like the FFXII system was a good way to move forward because you could directly control any of them at any time and you could set up actions for those you're not in direct control of. Why SE have moved away from that completely into controlling only one character is beyond me.

Another thing I hope isn't changed, though I'm probably very much alone in this, is the love triangle. I thought the original game did a good job of keeping things evenly balanced between Cloud and Tifa and Cloud and Aerith, so I hope the remake will leave that in so that things stay balanced. Besides, it's nice to have an option when it comes to the main romance in a Final Fantasy game for once.

I won't mind if they add references in to other VII games, as long as they're explained and don't detract from the storyline because I for one have not played Crisis Core and never plan to. I hope they do give Cloud more back story and go into more detail about Zack once the story reaches the point where he remembers the truth of what happens though. Because I felt the original lacked something there, considering they were supposed to be such good friends and Cloud was so traumatised he lost his entire memory of who he was, yet doesn't seem very upset at all when he remembers the truth.

I also won't mind if they...and please don't kill me Aerith lovers...I won't mind if they give Aerith some more depth of character. I never connected with her as a character at all, she felt very flat to me, very one dimensional, she felt unrealistic and like a 'mary sue'. So I hope they give her some more personality other than 'oh aren't I such a pure, angelic flower, with no personality or faults at all'.
 
Actually, in the original, Aerith had a lot more personality than she did in other titles (i.e. KH, BC and to some extent, AC and CC). The compilation and Cloud's grief martyrized her, which isn't fair because she was spunky and fun, cracking jokes and teasing others while still having a kind and gentle heart.
 
The initial excitement has finally died down.
I'll still no doubt get it for the PS3 version, but I'm thinking less of how they're going to do it from the ground up, and more about wanting to see Gameplay footage and how it works.
I've still got my original copy of FFVII, but I'm not even going to have a last play of it as I think that would show the comparisons more jarringly when it gets released.
Hahaha! Sounds like I'm already moaning about it! I'm not! I'm delighted we're getting this game, but talk of changing and adding parts is really nervous and scary talk to a Veteran of the "Silent Hill HD Collection" incident!
 
Actually, in the original, Aerith had a lot more personality than she did in other titles (i.e. KH, BC and to some extent, AC and CC). The compilation and Cloud's grief martyrized her, which isn't fair because she was spunky and fun, cracking jokes and teasing others while still having a kind and gentle heart.

I'm only talking about the original game. If she was further flattened as a character in other titles then that's probably even worse, but I remember her only from the first game and I found her boring and unrealistic then. I don't think it would be a bad thing to make her more realistic instead of being so perfect she seems like a parody of an angel. She was too good, they tried to make her so perfect but nobody is realistically perfect, so to me she just didn't feel real. I hope they make her more realistic because I want to go into the new game with a completely open mind, and I want to be sad when Aerith dies this time, like I'm supposed to be.
 
So the last couple weeks ive been lioving under a rock. Working 12 hour days coming home and falling asleep on the couch watching Arrow. Ive never been one to bother with e3 but earlier this morning i was hungover and bored so i checked it out. I was never one who cared aout a remake as i love the game how it was. But im sitting there goin....that looks like midgar. And i wear to fuck it was like i turned into a child again the instant i saw barrets machine gun hand. Im hyped for it.
 
But im sitting there goin....that looks like midgar. And i wear to fuck it was like i turned into a child again the instant i saw barrets machine gun hand. Im hyped for it.
For me it was when the theme tune started to chime in. Hairs on the back of my neck went all tingly and I marked out like a gert fanboi. Wasn't looking for a remake either but feel the time is right for one and it'll be gooood.
 
I'm so excited for this but I hope they don't change things, I want FF7 to remain the same just revamped graphics, I would just love changes on the side quests and stuff, such as more epic Weapon fights (I love Emerald, Ruby and Ultima but I want more challenges to go around and do), I also want to see those weird things back, like those extra areas and stuff, Aerith ghost and whatever all those be more elaborate or just delete them and never show them.

They should tread on Zack's story but like it was in the game, completely optional, I don't like to be fed Zack's entire story, I want to search for the lost memories.
 
I never played FFVII but I know enough of the game to like it and be excited for it! x) I'm kinda confused on why fans say that Cloud x Aerith or Cloud x Anything is a thing? I always thought it was up to fans interpretation? And I may be hated for this but I kinda prefer Cloud with Tifa ^^; Maybe because I'm a sucker for "childhood friend turned lovers" cliche types, but that's just me. I know that in any fandom that shippers can be very aggressive and tend to see their ships as "fact" by the littlest of things- may it be word of a developer or some "hints" in the game. I'm not trying to bash anyone but being an anime/manga fan I've seen the worst side of fandoms.... >.<;; In all honesty, unless there's a onscreen main story kiss I don't see it as actually canon ^^;

But enough about my ship grievances! I can't wait to see how the game shows off the "original" Cloud! I will finally be able to see the cocky "Ex-Soldier" Cloud Strife that fans seem to adore! x) I didn't like how Advent Children made him so depressing =n= And from what I can tell, neither did fans. Though I understand the reason, it kinda sucks that everyone thinks he's canonly like that! And this is coming from someone who never played the original game! D': As for retcons... I don't see anything bad about them? Unless they change major plot points and such... Also I think people are fretting over the whole "children with toy Buster Swords" too much. It's just a teaser trailer which is designed simply to tease us, I don't see it actually being in the final game. But that's just my 2 Cents!

Ack! I gotta stop writing walls of text! xD
 
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