FFVII Remake: Chocobos!

[Mitsuki]

Let's talk about chocobos! They're one of the best highlights of FFVII for me, and I spent hours breeding and racing chocobos years ago. How do you guys imagine they'll improve this? What kind of changes and additions would you like to see?

As we all know, breeding chocobos is required in order to get your hands on some of the most powerful Materia, so I'm eagerly looking forward to start this fun journey of breeding and racing chocobos!

To start, I'd like for them to keep this system close to the original as possible, including the 'chocobo type' which is based on the enemies that surround the chocobo. How we acquire Nuts and Greens... maybe provide some challenges? I'd like to see some cosmetics added to the chocobos, whether through equipments or variety of looks so that you really get a feel for each chobobo that you breed and they don't all look exactly the same - I think that would add a nice touch! It would be harder to let them go just to make room in the stable (which I hope they keep). Speaking of which, 6 stables for rent could be improved. Maybe up to 10 stables but with a hefty gil fee.

I'm also very interested to see how we'll catch a chocobo as well. I can't imagine it would be the same as the original (chocobo tracks)... that method worked for its time back then, so it would be interesting to see how they manage this system. Maybe there would be some similarities minus the back and forth walk.

As for the racing aspect, maybe something similar to FFXIV, I'd imagine, but a little bit more fun. I was a little underwhelmed with FFXIV's chocobo racing for some reason, even though I think it functioned well.

Anyway, I'd like to see some ideas even if it's just for fun!

 

[Miko]

Funny! I was just talking about this yesterday!

It'll be nice to see what Joe and Ester will look like revamped. A bit embarrassing, but for the longest time my kid-brain made me think that Ester looked like some sort of fish-woman because of some of the dialog and the... well, bad pixels to back it up.

Really hoping they keep the breeding in the game, maybe even some egg care or something? Baby Chocobos? Or maybe that's pressing the envelope a bit. I'm really excited for this part of the game and I really hope they stick close to the original content and maybe expand just a bit. Curious to know if this will be how we still obtain Knights of the Round (if that's still going to be an option?)

I wonder if the look of the chocobo will reflect it's quality at all. For example, a low quality 'poor' chocobo would look a bit dingy with a few feathers astray! Also if the colors will reflect how they did in the original game by being able to cross mountains & rivers, etc.~


I haven't raced Chocobos in FFXIV but I did in FFXV... so, I guess, meh? I'd love to see them keep/incorporate some of the original tracks you race on though.


It'll be interesting to see what they decide to do, that's for sure!

 

[Prince Oberyn Martel]

I'd really like to see it return and expanded upon. Have all the old colours returning plus a few others that have been recurring in the franchise like Red and White Chocobo. As a kid I was always annoyed that we could never get a White Chocobo for ourselves!

Would like to see the breeding and raising of Chocobo expanded. Instead of having new-born chocobo race-ready and ridable from the get-go, maybe start with a egg after breeding then after birth it is a newly hatched Chicobo and you have to 'train' it to a full grown state via mini-games over a period of time. Then you can go out into the world in a cross between VII, IX and XV where you can travel across the overworld with your Chocobo, it's colour allowing you to reach previously inaccessible areas for rewards (from VII), and also able to find and dig up hidden treasure (from IX). The one thing I dislike about riding around on Chocobo on XV is having to get off my big bird each time I want to pick up an item.

Then ofcourse the racing! More tracks, more rewards, PvP!

 

[Dionysos]

This might be something we'll not see until part two of the remake, but considering that the Chocobo Farm is immediately outside Midgar then chocobos should feature quite prominently in that second installment.

I'd love for the chocobo breeding and racing system to return, but with the addition of some cosmetic items so that you can customise and personalise them. Maybe give them a few trinkets to attach to the reins, a different hair-style (feather-style), a hat, and so on.

Instead of running back and forth on chocobo tracks to catch chocobos, maybe the player could plant gysahl green-based bait on the map and hide behind a rock or something.

Also, a big yes to PVP / online racing modes. The only problem with that would be Cloud being the party leader riding the chocobo for every player. It might look silly having rows of Clouds on different coloured birds. To get around this, perhaps people could create a custom rider or select from a list / be given a rider at random when playing online races.

Chocobo Racing is one of the most memorable mini-games in the entire franchise, so Square Enix would absolutely be wasting potential if they don't make the most of it. I like the quirky, nonsensical tracks of the original game. I'd like that to return, but I'd definitely welcome new ones to keep things fresh.

It'll be nice to see what Joe and Ester will look like revamped. A bit embarrassing, but for the longest time my kid-brain made me think that Ester looked like some sort of fish-woman because of some of the dialog and the... well, bad pixels to back it up.

Ha ha ha. I can't see how your kid-brain saw Ester as a fish-woman, but models like this can play tricks on the brain. To many people (including myself for ages) Bugenhagen had no legs and floated off the ground because of his magic bottom.
Likewise, FFVI's Gestahl was a rabbit of a dog to many people (which FFXIV parodied in a minion).