SPOILERS Anyone Willing to Admit the Remake Was better then the Original?

[Obsidian Fire]

I think the OG Midgar and the Remake Midgar are trying to do two entirely different things. The OG Midgar is... essentially an extended tutorial dungeon. It's main purpose is to introduce you to the basic mechanics, get you a decently sized party and basic equips and give you enough of a reason to be invested in chasing this Sephiroth guy down. And it does that very well, without getting to boring.

Remake Midgar is an entire game until itself and has a story complexity to match. They're so different, I'd want to compare FF7R to... the OG up to to Junon at least, if not a bit further.

The purpose the two sections serve is just too different to really compare them to each other at this point...

 

[kathy202]

Hmm my first post here... so, uhh... hello! Thought I'd chime in and say that I personally found the remake was better (maybe except for that last chapter...). They're both very different games and it's hard to compare, but if I had to choose which one to spend 30+hrs of my life on replaying... I'd go with the remake.

 

[cold_spirit]

FF7R is breathtaking and brilliant. Assuredly my GotY. It can sit proudly next to Hyper Light Drifter as one of my favorite games this gen.

But the OG? I'm gonna need like three times what was offered this gen to match that. Alternatively, if you want FF7R to match FF7 for me, you're gonna need to build a time machine and throw me a copy of the game, a PS4, and an HD TV. I first played FF7 at the age of twelve, do you know how perfect of an age that is to play FF7? I will never be that vulnerable again in my life. The OG was a formative experience. It fostered in me a love for video games, storytelling, and art.

My opinion isn't solely influenced by childhood attachment. Reverence without organization is nostalgia, and I actively try to avoid that. If there was ever a debate about FF7's quality, I'd have arguments for both sides. But I gotta give credit where credit is due. I enjoy FF7R the way I do because of the seeds sown by the OG.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

The OG changed my life. I love the Remake, but it isn't going to have the same effect.

 

[Turlast]

I just wanna say this: Remake exceeded my expectations by a wideeeee margin. It ended up being far better than I anticipated. The only thing I disliked was the fact that the game had to end. Everything else? Beyond amazing. I'm gonna start a Hard playthrough soon because I miss it that much.

Now when it comes to everything else, it makes sense as to why a 2020 game would technically be better than a 1997 game. With that being said, I went back to VII after completing Remake and I still love the game as much as I did when I was a kid. So Remake is better in a sense because it's prettier, has voice acting, and a wholesome combat system.

The OG is better because not only is it the blueprint, but it's had the biggest impact on me by far. I'll never forget the days of feeling accomplished that I was able to find the batteries so I could get to Shinra HQ. Or how awesome I thought I was for (indirectly) learning Enemy Skills. I remember when school was closed because of a snow day. Instead of going to bed, I spent literally the whole night running around Shinra HQ having mad fun. Memories like that are irreplaceable.

Simply put, Remake was one of my fav games this gen--and easily in my top 10. The OG? That's top 3 of all-time.

 

[Smoothie King]

Here's my take.

The original was the perfect game for me at 12/13 years old. The Remake is the perfect game for me at 35 years old.

When the smoke has cleared and the dust is settled, I am confident that my own opinion will be that the FFVII Remake saga as a whole will surpass the original in terms of being my favorite game of all time.

 

[Purple]

I enjoyed the Midgar section far better in the Remake (except the trail of blood, still bummed about that). I’ll wait for all parts to come out before giving final judgment

 

[Roundhouse]

Remake is good, but it's not better than the original for me.

The original had no voice acting, which gives me the chance to imagine voices for myself. The original is a full story from beginning to end in one game, while remake is...........basically a skilfully expanded opening. Remake has Sephiroth showing up at every comic book shop, pub, fast food place, etc, while original had the fantastic way of quietly building him up. Original feels like it's nicer to my Clerith heart, with the sweet interactions that aren't influenced by Aerith being some kind of weird seer-futureself. The remake has dementors, cuts the cool Shinra cells scene, and generally seems more like a reboot-sequel.

 

[Rydeen]

We haven’t seen the entire remake, so I’m reluctant to say anything. I would say that the Midgar section was generally better, but there are some exceptions. I think the plate drop was done better in the OG and the cheap retcons were outright insulting. It’s definitely unfair to compare, though - it would have been impossible to cram that much content into the Midgar of the OG. But it does really inspire the mind to fill in the gaps. Both games came at very different times in my life and were very emotionally impactful, and they can’t be untangled from those times in my life. The two FFVII experiences were embedded into my life and my life was embedded into the experiences.

 

[Wol]

As a standalone game, Remake didn't even impact the industry like the original, not even 1/3.

 

[Ite]

As a standalone game, Remake didn't even impact the industry like the original, not even 1/3.

I’m not sure if that’s fair. Nothing has lasting power in the 21st Century. The last cult film to stay famous for more than three months was Napoleon heckin Dynamite.

 

[Wol]

I’m not sure if that’s fair. Nothing has lasting power in the 21st Century. The last cult film to stay famous for more than three months was Napoleon heckin Dynamite.

I mean, just look at The Witcher 3. Remake wasn't up to par to todays standards for "game-changing", even if it's harder to achieve in this century by your definition.

 

[Ite]

For my part, the combat gameplay was revolutionary. A truly current-gen party-RPG? I’ll be comparing everything to it for years to come.

 

[Rydeen]

For my part, the combat gameplay was revolutionary. A truly current-gen party-RPG? I’ll be comparing everything to it for years to come.

Omg yes.

 

[Makoeyes987]

There are very few games that are "game changing" because that ceiling has been pushed further and further higher to levels that it would take a serious technological or cultural paragon shift to even make happen. Like, groundbreaking unrealized potential never seen.

The Witcher 3 is hugely successful and popular PS game but so was God of War 2018, Last of Us 2, and Hades. Not taking anything away from Witcher 3 but that's not "game changing." That's successful. That's pretty damn good. Successful and able to feed off it's own success like many other. Its got a series Netflix adaption. Last of Us is getting an HBO series. Hell, League of Legends got a Netflix series too and its one of the most popular MOBA games out there.

These type of cross-media, pop-cultural acknowledgments aren't "game changing." They're the natural course of popular franchises in the information media conglomerate age. I don't know why that would be seen as "special" when every year such things happen.

I would say FFVII-R definitely is a successful, well made and memorable entry in video game pop culture that will be remembered for years to come, even if it doesn't get a Netflix series or something. It's very much alive. 1997 was an entirely different zeitgeist and technological time that's more than likely not going to be replicated any time soon. The original FFVII broke the door wide open for JRPGs to take a firm foothold as a viable genre here in the west. It was one of the vanguards of CGI RPG storytelling on a console that went beyond pixel graphics. It was a very mature yet memorable and brand new kind of story not seen in the West before.

These are firsts that are not easily replicated with the video game industry well into it's maturity. Hell, with storytelling in general. Audiences are far less naïve than before.

And that's valid and okay. We are in another age. Standards and environments change. Expecting history to replicate itself in an ever evolving way is unrealistic. But it was still good. And for the part it focused on, 100% better than the original. However, what remains still needs to be seen but if it keeps that level of quality, adaption and intriguing presentation it can surpass itself. We'll see.

 

[FFShinra]

To the original question, I can only say: In parts yes, in parts no.

I prefer the original's Shinra Building sequence and the remake's Sector 4, 5, 6, 7 sequences. Wall Market is a hodgepodge. I liked the more seedy and dirty aesthetics of it in the OG but I prefer the actual questing and sequencing of remake.

 

[Eerie]

For what it's worth, I'm also not 100% sure that Remake didn't start an other games!Remakes movement - at least as a wish from the players. I see it often, and I don't remember that it was something asked for prior to Remake. It's something that takes a long time to make though - it's a several years work, and you'd have to have all the devs still around... - so I am not sure how much that will really influence the next games we're going to see.

People were definitely looking at FFVII Remake really hard to see if it's doable, IMHO. And of course a lot of FF fans want older/other games to be re-made now, which says a lot about what they thought about FFVII Remake - it's so good they also want their other favourite to be re-made.

Edit: to me, the characters are the best they've *ever* been in Remake and that's a huge plus because we get to care about everyone. The story is better driven, and better told. Some people mourn the lack of choices, I welcome it, as it strengthen greatly the narrative. Chapter 18 is the "out of there" thing that definitely needs more explanation from SE tho.

 

[Suzaku]

As far as I'm concerned, Remake makes the OG feel almost entirely obsolete. But I might feel different when the full package is complete.

The gameplay is just more engaging, and all the new material and worldbuilding makes the OG feel sparse to me, now.

 

[looneymoon]

wtf is everyone on about with there not being benchmarks pieces of games media anymore.

i know there's oversaturation of a lot of the same shit but that comes across as overly cynical and boomer-y as all hell.

you guys are trippin'.

 

[Leafonthebreeze]

Yeah I mean at the very least there's Breath of the Wild. You can see the influence of that game absolutely everywhere, it definitely brought in a new era of open world games, for better or worse.

 

[Odysseus]

Would I sound stupid if I said the last game that truly caught the zeitgeist of the gaming landscape was Undertale? It's the last time I remember people falling over themselves to engage with a game so much. Blue eye skeleton man still elicits a visceral reaction.

BOTW definitely influenced the actual gaming landscape far more, I feel like a new BOTW comes out every six months or something (look forward to Sonic of the Wild later this year) but I dunno. The media over-stuffed landscape we're in now means that people move on from things extremely quickly. I remember when CP2077 was supposed to revolutionize gaming forever, but it flopped and nobody gives a shit anymore. I'm talking about things that get people truly passionate, that have thriving communities well past their release years. I feel like the only way to achieve that these days is serialization. Waiting for part 2 to come has kept FF7 alive when it otherwise would've fallen off.

I feel like you just can't do FF7 anymore. A glut of fan sites and fanfiction ain't gonna hold a community over for seven years like it could in the early 2000's, especially since dedicated community sites for specific games or franchises are a dying breed. People are always chasing the newest thing, places of discussion have become monopolized, and are driven by a need to stay relevant with "the new thing". I dunno if a bunch of weirdos are gonna be roleplaying as Forespoken characters in their cult house five years after it came out. No doctors are going to spend seven years writing elaborate and overly long fanfiction about Elden Ring (maybe).

I mean, I could definitely be wrong here. Stuff like Dark Souls has remained popular for a long time after it came out (though new games in the same vein as it by the same studio come out regularly, and are now also aping BOTW lol). I am also horribly out of touch most of the time so what do I know lol.

 

[Roundhouse]

We are definitely flooded with so many different shows and games and films these days, true. That being said, I think Cyberpunk apparently flopped because it turned out to be a buggy disaster, not because it was really good and people just moved on.

 

[Odysseus]

We are definitely flooded with so many different shows and games and films these days, true. That being said, I think Cyberpunk apparently flopped because it turned out to be a buggy disaster, not because it was really good and people just moved on.

I know. I was saying that one minute something can be hyped up to be a game changer, the next it's already faded from public consciousness. In Cyber Punk's case, it was because it was a terrible, buggy mess that failed to match what it was promised to be, but I feel like it happens to many game. When I watch E3 or Sony presentations and see a dozen realistic-looking 3rd person action games, I always think "I am never going to hear about this game again" lol.

 

[Leafonthebreeze]

I guess it depends a bit how you define things. Are we talking about games that had huge influence on game design from then on, games that had a huge fan reaction that lasted longer than a few months, or games that created a new genre?

Thinking about it, one game that comes close to hitting all of those is Journey. Maybe not the fan obsessives so much, but it changed things, and a lot of people had a pretty huge reaction to it, even if they didn't go away and make fanart of it.

 

[Roundhouse]

Hmm, what games would you say have made a lasting/special mark in the last ten years? I guess I can only think of:

Undertale
Stardew Valley
Breath of the Wild
Witcher 3
The Last of Us
Hades?