Having just beat the game there is a lot I want to discuss but I can't exactly post on the general discussion thread So I made this!
I'll put my comments in spoiler tags for now, as the game is still in it's month of launch but I won't be holding back on spoilers to prior games like the original FFVII & the compilation project. So I advise you really only join in once you've beaten the Final Fantasy Remake (Part 1)
Still here? Alright lets talk about the conclusion to Final Fantasy VII's Remake and what it implies about the original experience! I went into this game open minded, claiming it was an adaptation and open to it deviating from the original games experience - when expanding a game from 5-7 hours to a 40+ hour experience you can expect that. But honestly there wasn't anything TOO drastically different until you reach the end of the road...
Now, I was expecting something different, while Motorball is a cool design and the implementation of the battle in the Motorcycle section was brilliant. The adversary hardly has the presence to be the games final boss! So I was expecting something different but what I got has left me feeling very uneasy. So the game suddenly decides to break away from the narrative with a portal - which breaks beyond a lot of what we have come to expect regarding the games setting, while Final Fantasy VII's world has Materia and magic and imaginative beasts it never went into grande Sci-Fi details like Sci-Fi until now - Yes I really feel that this revelation has expanded the games (For lack of a better word) 'sense of realism' to reach the levels of Final Fantasy XIII-2's over the top nature.
The battle itself felt broken out of context, I was saying to myself as Cloud was space-jumping through strutctures of broken rubble that this is not Kingdom Hearts. The whole sequence was just way over the top and I just wasn't enjoying it. I also noted that the Whispers we fought had a similar presence to Cloud, Tifa & Barret - Also, if you read their description from using Asses it does mention about them being from the future... - Interesting that their was no Aerith or Red too, We've already seen a Whisiper extracted from Barret to maintain his fate, I wonder if that means we'll see similar situations for Cloud & Tifa... As for Aerith... I really hope not... Time-travels such a headache even when done well, why have they introduced it to Final Fantasy VII?!
Then it proceeds to the Advent Children inspired battle with Sephiroth, which admittedly was pretty cool but once again the sense of scale of the battle was just way over the top. I even thought so when watching AC originally but considered that at least Cloud had been through extreme combat circumstances which could allow the more anime inspired combat - Yet for this present moment, it just felt too much. How can you go from this to needing a Chocobo to cross a river to avoid the Midgar Zolom or struggle with some minor goblins or twig monsters? As the whole section as featured within the portal/illusion you could let it off on that basis alone, but I don't think that's entirely fair.
Then we have the scenes with Zack's past. Firstly, I think his character has been very poorly introduced for newcomers & They're not going to understand the relevance of his scene here and just be confused. Not to say I have complete grasp of what's going on but still I felt that wasn't introduced well. They use the flashback sequences as an indication that the script has changed, we see Zack rise from the battle he fell at in Crisis Core - Which in itself is confusing as the scale of the battle differs heavily from the flashback sequence we see in the original, so I am treating it as the CC version is canon. Of course, the problem now is how did Clod get the Buster Sword? The transition from Zack to Cloud was well written before but how will that continue with this alternate timeline story? - Maybe visiting Zack's Village (The one before Cosmo Canyon) will hold more importance this time around?
I'm also concerned about the big moment revolving Aerith, can you imagine if they follow the most renown moment in the Final Fantasy series with a Whisper suddenly rising from her body.... just yikes!
I was all for changes, i actually quite liked that they let Wedge survive but now having Biggs & Jessie both survive due to this alternative timeline just sort of cops out in the same manner.
Also, now we've experience this change of events, will we see more of the Whispers? or did we defeat them in that encounter and that is the end of it ? Part of me says no as we have future versions of whispers reminiscent of Cloud, Barret & Tifa in the encounter so there must be a moment in time where they appear - Consider myself time-baffled
I think where this becomes a problem for me is that this isn't simply a Remake, this isn't simply an adaptation - which once again I said I was open to along with changes. This is literally re-treading the story and then changing it - There is a moment during the Whispers battle where Red XIII see's his future self where he is running with his cubs to look over a ruined Midgar (set 500 years after the events of the original game) and comments "A glimpse of tomorrow if we fail here today." - So is that indicating the original Final Fantasy VII we experienced is on Timeline considered a bad route and that this new route is going to be the True/Real/Canon version?!? This is what annoys me as they're now treating thew original like it is inferior or simply incorrect. I could accept an adaptation but as this version meddles with the original game and what it means that actually makes me feel uneasy.
So that's my thoughts on the experience am I interested to see where Part 2 will go, certainly but I can't help but feel they went way over the top with this ending and it does leave me a little apprehensive as to where it will lead. Curious to know what others think on t he matter and their thoughts about how this entry affects their perspective on the rest of the series.
I'll put my comments in spoiler tags for now, as the game is still in it's month of launch but I won't be holding back on spoilers to prior games like the original FFVII & the compilation project. So I advise you really only join in once you've beaten the Final Fantasy Remake (Part 1)
Still here? Alright lets talk about the conclusion to Final Fantasy VII's Remake and what it implies about the original experience! I went into this game open minded, claiming it was an adaptation and open to it deviating from the original games experience - when expanding a game from 5-7 hours to a 40+ hour experience you can expect that. But honestly there wasn't anything TOO drastically different until you reach the end of the road...
Now, I was expecting something different, while Motorball is a cool design and the implementation of the battle in the Motorcycle section was brilliant. The adversary hardly has the presence to be the games final boss! So I was expecting something different but what I got has left me feeling very uneasy. So the game suddenly decides to break away from the narrative with a portal - which breaks beyond a lot of what we have come to expect regarding the games setting, while Final Fantasy VII's world has Materia and magic and imaginative beasts it never went into grande Sci-Fi details like Sci-Fi until now - Yes I really feel that this revelation has expanded the games (For lack of a better word) 'sense of realism' to reach the levels of Final Fantasy XIII-2's over the top nature.
The battle itself felt broken out of context, I was saying to myself as Cloud was space-jumping through strutctures of broken rubble that this is not Kingdom Hearts. The whole sequence was just way over the top and I just wasn't enjoying it. I also noted that the Whispers we fought had a similar presence to Cloud, Tifa & Barret - Also, if you read their description from using Asses it does mention about them being from the future... - Interesting that their was no Aerith or Red too, We've already seen a Whisiper extracted from Barret to maintain his fate, I wonder if that means we'll see similar situations for Cloud & Tifa... As for Aerith... I really hope not... Time-travels such a headache even when done well, why have they introduced it to Final Fantasy VII?!
Then it proceeds to the Advent Children inspired battle with Sephiroth, which admittedly was pretty cool but once again the sense of scale of the battle was just way over the top. I even thought so when watching AC originally but considered that at least Cloud had been through extreme combat circumstances which could allow the more anime inspired combat - Yet for this present moment, it just felt too much. How can you go from this to needing a Chocobo to cross a river to avoid the Midgar Zolom or struggle with some minor goblins or twig monsters? As the whole section as featured within the portal/illusion you could let it off on that basis alone, but I don't think that's entirely fair.
Then we have the scenes with Zack's past. Firstly, I think his character has been very poorly introduced for newcomers & They're not going to understand the relevance of his scene here and just be confused. Not to say I have complete grasp of what's going on but still I felt that wasn't introduced well. They use the flashback sequences as an indication that the script has changed, we see Zack rise from the battle he fell at in Crisis Core - Which in itself is confusing as the scale of the battle differs heavily from the flashback sequence we see in the original, so I am treating it as the CC version is canon. Of course, the problem now is how did Clod get the Buster Sword? The transition from Zack to Cloud was well written before but how will that continue with this alternate timeline story? - Maybe visiting Zack's Village (The one before Cosmo Canyon) will hold more importance this time around?
I'm also concerned about the big moment revolving Aerith, can you imagine if they follow the most renown moment in the Final Fantasy series with a Whisper suddenly rising from her body.... just yikes!
One of the biggest problems I had with Final Fantasy IV is the lack of consequence in death, moments that were endearing like Palom and Poroms sacrifice were belittled when they all came back at the end and I fear that the might be doing the same here.
Also, now we've experience this change of events, will we see more of the Whispers? or did we defeat them in that encounter and that is the end of it ? Part of me says no as we have future versions of whispers reminiscent of Cloud, Barret & Tifa in the encounter so there must be a moment in time where they appear - Consider myself time-baffled
I think where this becomes a problem for me is that this isn't simply a Remake, this isn't simply an adaptation - which once again I said I was open to along with changes. This is literally re-treading the story and then changing it - There is a moment during the Whispers battle where Red XIII see's his future self where he is running with his cubs to look over a ruined Midgar (set 500 years after the events of the original game) and comments "A glimpse of tomorrow if we fail here today." - So is that indicating the original Final Fantasy VII we experienced is on Timeline considered a bad route and that this new route is going to be the True/Real/Canon version?!? This is what annoys me as they're now treating thew original like it is inferior or simply incorrect. I could accept an adaptation but as this version meddles with the original game and what it means that actually makes me feel uneasy.
So that's my thoughts on the experience am I interested to see where Part 2 will go, certainly but I can't help but feel they went way over the top with this ending and it does leave me a little apprehensive as to where it will lead. Curious to know what others think on t he matter and their thoughts about how this entry affects their perspective on the rest of the series.