How far do you think Part 2 will go?

[ForceStealer]

I also agree, conceptually, with the three arc ideas. It also makes for great starting and end points for each. Part two ending with the Weapons exploding from the crater, with a post credit scene of Tifa waking up, Barret revealing the Meteor, and then they're lead away to be executed, and Part 3 starting with the execution and escape from Junon sounds wildly exciting.

But I am similarly at a loss as to how this level of expansion they seem to be applying to Midgar can possibly be applied to the whole planet in any reasonable amount of time. But honestly I wonder that for the endgame no matter how many parts it takes to get there. How could we ever have free Highwind access to a world blown up to this degree? I know the PS5 (or 6, lol) is going to be more powerful but, damn. (Or maybe I'm overestimating the amount by which Midgar is expanded?)

It would be interesting if this represented the handoff of the main Final Fantasy series to a new generation while Kitase, Nomura, et. al. spend the rest of their careers perfecting their masterpiece. Somehow I don't think they'd be content with that (Nomura in particular)

 

[X-SOLDIER]

I've been thinking of this primarily in terms of what needs to get extra time for software development technological requirements:

• Part 1 – All of the basics & design (up to Midgar exit)
• Part 2 – Open world map wandering (up to Meteor Summoning)
• Part 3 – MASSIVE world-map-scale battles with the Weapons


We know basically what we're getting in the first part, which is nailing down the look, feel, combat, and the basics of all the systems we'll be using at their core. (Ending is like Fellowship of the Ring)

The second part has to deal with the open world stuff, but is also getting us Cait Sith, Cid, Vincent, & Yuffie. I'd expect the combat to get a little bit more ambitious, but be somewhat similar to the first part, but by the end, make everyone feel stronger. (Ending with Meteor leaves things at a cliffhanger like The Empire Strikes Back)

The third part has to have battles with things that are literally the size of skyscrapers in a way that feels amazing and impressive. I'd bet that fighting ALL of the weapons becomes required rather than optional this time around. This is where I think that the combat might shift a bit, and get us more crazy limit breaks, and absolutely devastating FFXV-level summon spells like Bahamut Zero who are more like landscape-obliterating forces, and dial the combat up to 11 on all fronts.


I'm a biggest fan of the three-part split, but there're ways to divide the middle section if it's a bit too long. Ending one of the games with the loss of Cloud and the "teaming up" with Shinra when everything goes massively apocalyptic is important, and whether it needs one or two games to set that up is really just up to how much content fits in the vision of how it's being expanded.



X

 

[mandelbrot86]

Yeah, those weapon fights are where things could get tricky for a nice grounded combat system like we've seen. I really hope it doesn't go KH style with floaty flying combat and reaction commands. Honestly, the Leviathan battle in FFXV was probably the most painful thing I've experienced in a FF game. I hate flying combat like that. Massive summons? That's a different story. As long as they keep them from breaking the game while giving players some control, that would be awesome! I was so excited by them in FFXV. And even in practice they made me super happy while playing the game... If I ever got to use them...

 

[Tetsujin]

But honestly I wonder that for the endgame no matter how many parts it takes to get there. How could we ever have free Highwind access to a world blown up to this degree? I know the PS5 (or 6, lol) is going to be more powerful but, damn. (Or maybe I'm overestimating the amount by which Midgar is expanded?)

I think it is probably sensible to let go of the notion that the endgame of the final part is going to act like the endgame of OG VII with full access to the entire world. Each part will probably just let you visit its respective story-relevant locations.

 

[mandelbrot86]

I think it is probably sensible to let go of the notion that the endgame of the final part is going to act like the endgame of OG VII with full access to the entire world. Each part will probably just let you visit its respective story-relevant locations.

You may be correct. I'm prepared for that myself, but I hope they prove me wrong. I certainly don't think we're going to have free roam on a Golden Chocobo though. Running across a full scale Gaia over the oceans, while it would be cool at first would probably get really old really quickly.

 

[Jairus]

You may be correct. I'm prepared for that myself, but I hope they prove me wrong. I certainly don't think we're going to have free roam on a Golden Chocobo though. Running across a full scale Gaia over the oceans, while it would be cool at first would probably get really old really quickly.

I can understand that, although if they made the gold chocobo lightning fast in addition to being able to cross any kind of terrain, then it might be doable. That way it wouldn't take forever to get anywhere while riding it, and you could still have places that you can only get to on the gold chocobo and not the airship (such as Round Island). They're already technically the fastest breed for racing, so making them much faster than any other kind on the overworld would be canonically consistent and another way of setting the gold apart from the rest of the breeds.

 

[NibelFire]

I think it is probably sensible to let go of the notion that the endgame of the final part is going to act like the endgame of OG VII with full access to the entire world. Each part will probably just let you visit its respective story-relevant locations.

Logically I just want them to stick to simplicity, but somehow, my gut feeling tells me they won't be happy with just that. I think even if Midgar turns out to be at the scope that most of us want to see, they would still bend over backwards to make the overworld/open-world aspect of this remake even more of a spectacle than its 1997 counterpart. or die trying. At least, that's the vibe I'm getting when they say they want the Remake to surpass the original. Feels like a pipe dream at of this point, but who knows?

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

or die trying.

No exaggeration, I kind of expect the scope of this project to defeat them.

 

[Ite]

@NibelFire It depends. It’s been posed that they could bisect Act 2 at the present-day Nibelheim mark, and if they pull it off it could feel like a complete experience. And we can also trisect Act 2 (and I have XD) into 2.1 Flashback-Cargo Ship 2.2 Costa-Rocket 2.3 Bronco-Whirwind Maze.

But at that point you have (sarcastically) 6 Blu-Rays for... what 10 hours of story?

It really depends I think on how the new content in Part 1 is received. I think they might look to fan reactions to added content and get a sense of just how expanded they want this to be after the dust has settled on Part 1.

 

[mandelbrot86]

@NibelFire It depends. It’s been posed that they could bisect Act 2 at the present-day Nibelheim mark, and if they pull it off it could feel like a complete experience. And we can also trisect Act 2 (and I have XD) into 2.1 Flashback-Cargo Ship 2.2 Costa-Rocket 2.3 Bronco-Whirwind Maze.

My biggest issue is that if they have to bisect or trisect Act 2, it will likely have more to do with world than story and they will likely have to do the same with Act 3. When all said and done, I have a feeling this is going to be the biggest open world in videogame history if they pull it off. I'm somewhat afraid that they are just going to break the world into zones and then use an airship method like FFX so as to restrict movement.

 

[Roger]

My biggest fear is that nothing after Midgar will get the same kind of expansion that Midgar got.

 

[mandelbrot86]

A little off-topic, but still relevant to this discussion:
A lot of people online ask questions about how our materia, weapons, and stats will carry over. I'm of the belief that they won't. It will be a new game each time and the scale of the magic/summons will simply escalate between titles so as to simulate that growth.
That said, I think it would be cool if it detected a previous save and gave a couple bonus weapons/materia to start the game.
People have discussed an Expansion style of release. I might actually want that if they have to break up Acts 2 & 3. That way previous areas are still accessible and can be expanded on while new areas are added.

 

[Cannon_Fodder]

My biggest fear is that nothing after Midgar will get the same kind of expansion that Midgar got.

That's funny, because my biggest fear is that everything after Midgar will get the same kind of expansion that Midgar got, haha.

I think they do need to expand the rest of the game, but if they do it to the same degree as Midgar I don't see the whole project getting finished any time soon (if at all).

 

[mandelbrot86]

That's funny, because my biggest fear is that everything after Midgar will get the same kind of expansion that Midgar got, haha.

I think they do need to expand the rest of the game, but if they do it to the same degree as Midgar I don't see the whole project getting finished any time soon (if at all).

Yeah. I really don't think most of the rest of it needs that kind of expansion. Midgar was one of very few locations where you were very restricted but essentially told was much bigger. And story-wise, the Midgar act needs the most fleshing out to make it feel full. Other towns on the map don't need to be huge. Yeah, they probably need more than the 6 NPCs they have in the original, but not a major overhaul.
Junon seems larger, but it's a military base, so it should be easy to restrict access to and not have it feel forced.
There also probably needs to be more expansion in Wutai because that part of the story was never really fleshed out at all, but it still doesn't require a metropolis.

 

[Roger]

Part 2 will probably be like XIII, a very pretty corridor, if it takes us all the way to the Whirlwind Maze. Midgar is a city, the pursuit of Sephiroth takes you through four continents. To make it look like it exists on the same scale will either take loads of time or heavy restricting.

 

[mandelbrot86]

Part 2 will probably be like XIII, a very pretty corridor, if it takes us all the way to the Whirlwind Maze. Midgar is a city, the pursuit of Sephiroth takes you through four continents. To make it look like it exists on the same scale will either take loads of time or heavy restricting.

There's truth there. I don't think it takes quite as much time and space for them to do landscapes though as fully voiced and populated cities with lots of cutscenes. If they do want to flesh them out more as full continents though, maybe they will need some more towns and such. Not sure. I still think they need to figure out how to streamline it to not be 10 games long and to give some freedom of exploration.

 

[Claymore]

Part 2 will probably be like XIII, a very pretty corridor, if it takes us all the way to the Whirlwind Maze. Midgar is a city, the pursuit of Sephiroth takes you through four continents. To make it look like it exists on the same scale will either take loads of time or heavy restricting.

I've been reading a lot of discussions about Part 2 at various places, and I can't help but think that a lot of people are setting themselves up for some huge disappointment concerning the scope and content of the next installment. SE have continuously gone on the record about the effort and expansion being poured into Part 1, most which we've seen a lot of glimpses of now. That same level of fidelity won't simply be dropped for the rest of the game. It will be continued in the same vein. Even if they don't adjust or expand the story in different ways (highly unlikely since they've changed a lot up that we've seen so far), expecting the entire world map for Part 2, either fully scaled or somehow zoned (you'd need a ton of zones), with all the towns, stories, events, enemies, and everything else ... it seems highly unlikely that this is going to happen.

Part 2 is going to be a continent, maybe a continent and half. Expecting anything more on the scale that they are doing this in feels unreasonable, maybe even unfeasible. How long are people expecting Part 2 to take? 2 years? A full game cycle of 4-5 years? I'm under no delusions that Part 1 isn't going to have a shit-ton of DLC and GAS features to keep the hype going - but that will most likely last maybe a year and a half, two tops. Maybe i'm underestimating SE (ha!), but I can't see them developing the entire VII world and everything in it within 5 years. And I can't see them delaying the second installment too long after the first.

Remember, they have only just begun planning the second installment (and most likely still trying to figure out how to tackle Part 2).

I honestly believe that we are going to be drip-fed this for a very long time. And I don't think it's just out of spite or only out of a money grabbing agenda. Financially and technically, they simply can't do the whole game in the way that they've begun it. And yeah, that is their fault for doing it in this way, but it can't be undone now.

 

[Ite]

Empty worldspace and three to four dungeons is not a Part 2, sorry. I'm sure they could find lots of ways to pad it out, but I hope they are aware that they're racing against the clock - if this is any more than 5 parts, they're finished.

 

[Roundhouse]

I honestly believe that we are going to be drip-fed this for a very long time.

Yep. Like I said before, 2030 is when I expect the final part, or around then.

 

[Theozilla]

I don't think the world map (and towns) in the Remake are going to (or even can) be expanded to the same degree that Midgar has been. Expanding an enclosed city location is much easier to do than entire planet. I think the zoned approach that FFXII and FFXIV have done can work while still allowing the player to believably traverse the majority of the planet. Like Mr. Ite has said, I really don't see the Remake being more than 5 parts (heck I am skeptical that it will be more than three, but I could feasibly see four parts, but five parts really stretches my expectations/trust).

 

[Cannon_Fodder]

A zoned approach makes the most sense to me for part 2. Part 3 can reuse those detailed zones while adding a DQ11 style world map for Highwind and Chocobo exploration. Baring some exciting new idea I haven't even thought of, this is my dream scenario.

 

[Don Corneo's Dungeon]

I don't think the world map (and towns) in the Remake are going to (or even can) be expanded to the same degree that Midgar has been. Expanding an enclosed city location is much easier to do than entire planet. I think the zoned approach that FFXII and FFXIV have done can work while still allowing the player to believably traverse the majority of the planet. Like Mr. Ite has said, I really don't see the Remake being more than 5 parts (heck I am skeptical that it will be more than three, but I could feasibly see four parts, but five parts really stretches my expectations/trust).

Just imagine if the world ended up RDR2 size

A boy can dream

 

[mandelbrot86]

Just imagine if the world ended up RDR2 size

A boy can dream

Well Midgar is on 2 discs, so maybe just Midgar is RDR2 size..... That's actually scary to me in terms of future development.

 

[Clean Cut Chaos]

Been thinking about this for a long time. The more I see new or expanded content from Midgar, the more I see speculation as almost impossible. An example would be that Wutai seems to be going from optional side content to a larger role in the main story. For me, that has the potential to skew everything outside of Midgar in ways we can't understand yet.

I still think the main flow of the story will stay intact for the most part (I hope).

 

[Vyzzuvazzadth]

I see 2 feasible possibilities, in terms of logistics and storytelling:

• 3 parts, as I outlined in my Game Talk #1 video
• 4 parts where Kalm to Meteor Summoning is being divided into 2 parts at Nibelheim (final town/dungeon in part 2, prologue/intro in part 3)

I plan to discuss the 4 part approach in great detail in Game Talk #2 which I can hopefully work on before they announce where part 2 ends ^^

Also, I completely agree with @Theozilla , @Cannon_Fodder and @Clean Cut Chaos