FF7 Remake "Multi part series"

[The Twilight Mexican]

I'd rather them take an extra year and sell it as a two disk bluray complete game. I know it's happening so I don't mind the wait. Seems like nothing more than money grabbing to me but being square, they haven't thought it through. Dispite me being pissed off about it, so is everyone else on here, but they're gonna alienate new players. Nobody on Facebook seems to be impressed about it and the three people who say ff is shit I had convinced to try the remake. Just got a text off one of them laughing about all of us 'nostalgia fans' are getting mugged off by square and I'm struggling to disagree.

You're at some odd mix of pessimism and optimism if you expect an extra year is all it would take. =P

As far as I can tell, the only downside here is the anxiousness of waiting between installments. The likelihood of increased cost is a non-issue since we're adults at this point, unlike most of us when the original came out.

Everything else seems like a positive.

 

[Alex Strife]

I obviously do not like it. I mean, who wouldn't want to have the whole thing in one single package?

However, I'm willing to believe them when they say they can't get the quality they want in one disk (or in one go, anyway). And there's just way too much at a stake for them to mess up with this. Seriously, guys, just think about it. It would be way too much for them to screw up with this.

I'm just expecting them to break the game into reasonable episodes. And the interviews show that they want to keep everything (I'll say 90 to 95%, because if you change things, then there's minor stuff that's bound to be changed and therefore "dropped") and add new stuff. I was a bit reluctant in terms of what they want to add because of their track record but I feel that with FFVII being such a key game for them and Nomura appearing so uncompromising, they'll try to add stuff that either does not detract from the OG or that's "safe bet"-ish. Or both.

We'll see. I'm not happy and I'm definitely a bit less excited than yesterday... but just because I know I'll have to wait and I hate waiting! The rest is really just the same. It's the same game.

And that's the key, everyone. It's the same game.

 

[Fangu]

Oh, boredom. Give me one purchase and one download, please. I'm too old for repeating myself 40 times. I'd rather wait 15 years for the one giant master edition.

 

[Splintered]

I'm gonna level with you all, I'm not entirely sure why people are mad over this. Like, whats the downside here?

From what I can tell based on the available information all this means is that we will start getting to play sooner than expected, and the developers can take more time to make each part of the game as good as possible.

I feel like maybe we're having a bit of a knee jerk reaction here simply because its different from what we expected. I'm not trying to judge anyone for feeling negative about this mind you. Perhaps some of you see something about this that I don't, and if so I'd be open to hearing it.

Because from previous experience, episodic games aren't about more content and openness, it lends itself to linearity. And while VII is fairly linear, there are some things that can be accomplished throughout the game (Yuffies mission for example can be done as with Aerith as soon as you get travel on water, after Aerith, with Tifa, with Cid, or after you get Cloud back).

You've got to rework the entire game around segmenting the episodes. Square Enix has also a terrible reputation when talking about fair pricing models. We've never seen an action JRPG that changes with episodes either, and we can easily see how it can fail.

I'm okay with them to take longer so they can make one fully immersive game that I can play in one swoop. Time doesn't bother me, I was fully expecting them to take their time, unnecessary decisions that breakup story does.

I don't think it's a knee jerk reaction. And I think Squeenix for the past couple of years have been searching for the golden goose, if this really works, I don't see them not trying this with newer mainlined titles.

 

[ForceStealer]

I feel however Force feels. Which as far as I can tell is bitterness that the penny may have finally dropped masked with appearing to casually observe the goings-on with humour.

hahahaha. You've got me read


That famitsu interview and a bunch of posts here have helped. The concept of having not only the Midgar sectors, but other towns like Kalm, Junon, or Wutai being fully realized, intricate areas is absolutely exciting. It could SERIOUSLY increase the size of FF7's world. Something we already know is technically true with things like Dirge's portrayal of Kalm.

On the other hand, is there any chance that these chapters won't feel disjointed? How much will they change their minds about systems along the way. What if the stupid FF fandom loses their shit over something dumb in the combat system and the whole thing gets revamped between two chapters?

I dunno, I guess my current emotional state is "moar info needed."

 

[Lex]

I like the idea of the FF Dimensions thing that was mentioned earlier, where there are open areas (like a new kind of world map) but the episodes unlock the main story and more content. I could live with that.

You know, if we end up with something far larger and far greater than any one standalone game could be, we'll all be super pleased with that. If I can return to all of the areas in chapter one when I'm playing chapter three and dialogue has changed to reflect that and more stuff is unlockable, I'll be pleased.

If it turns into cutscene - gameplay - cutscene - gameplay per episode and each episode is standalone, I'll be incredibly pissed off.

EDIT: Also if anyone needs a pick-me-up



I just got disc 1 omnislash from the battle arena but I haven't learned Cloud's limits yet, I'm going to go do that now.

 

[Flare]

You know, if we end up with something far larger and far greater than any one standalone game could be, we'll all be super pleased with that. If I can return to all of the areas in chapter one when I'm playing chapter three and dialogue has changed to reflect that and more stuff is unlockable, I'll be pleased.

If it turns into cutscene - gameplay - cutscene - gameplay per episode and each episode is standalone, I'll be incredibly pissed off.

This is how I'm starting to feel now. I'm starting to see all the good this can be. More content for every part of the game, a quicker release date for the first part.... it's starting to sound pretty nice. As long as the disc a stuff is still explorable later on (unless it gets destroyed.... off course, world changes would be cool).

So how do we think they'll do the multi-part thing? Release a few discs over a few years' time, like how the original was? And I wonder how long this'll take? I suppose depending on how many 'episodes' they do, but if they release the first episode in 2017, will they release one disc a year? Quicker than that? Like how long do they want to stretch it out... for a few years?
I'm really curious about a ton of things and can't wait to learn more.

 

[Tetsujin]

I'm afraid that the multi-part approach will make it feel disjointed. I want the experience to be a coherent whole. Ideally, it would be nice if you could play through all the parts in one go with at most needing to change the discs.

I don't want each episode to be its own thing with its own set of opening credits and ending credits and such. I don't think the individual parts are going to stack like DLC though.
In the end, it should feel like one big FFVII game instead of several smaller-sized ones but I am afraid that's not gonna be the case. Essentially I want it to be like Sonic 3 & Knuckles which was released in two parts but is absolutely playable as a single game with no interruption.

Also, optional content. Will each part have its own optional content? When I play part 2, can I go back to areas from part 1? If I miss something in part 1 but I already started part 2, how can I go back and get the thing and have it carry back over?

Can each part be played on its own or is a save-file required? Could someone just buy the last one and then basically jump straight to the finale?

What about levelling? Can I grind all the way to lvl99 in part 1 because I got bored waiting for part 2 and then cheese my way through the other parts? Will there be a level cap until the next one? Or will each episode see you start back at lvl1 and be treated as a new game even with save transfers?

Are they all going to have their own trophy lists?

etc etc

 

[JBedford]

I'm not a fan of episodes. I don't play a Telltale game until I can buy it all in a retail release. I don't watch an anime series until it's over (and this usually includes giving time for a sequel to be announced so I don't have to wait time between multi-series things).

So there is no benefit for me with being able to play the game earlier. I have the patience to wait for the entire thing, or maybe I just lack the patience to wait between episodes (also big breaks = I forget things and find it harder to jump back in)

I'm also unconvinced that they couldn't fit everything on one disc.

But releasing it in multiple parts itself isn't a dealbreaker if I can buy it one collection at the end. It's just the implications.

Splitting FFVII by story section rather than world section isn't space efficient. I think Midgar, Junon, and perhaps Gold Saucer will be the big locations. Corel Prison, Mideel, the temple, and the crater dungeons shouldn't take up nearly as much space in comparison. But the D3 content will have to cover the entire world and the final dungeon already. It's most of the game.

I would like to be able to revisit and explore more of Midgar after being able to return there with the key on D2 (or maybe exploring the plate makes more sense on D3). But with space constraints in mind, Can they really also include Midgar?

Other content they can remove between releases is FMVs (which I don't expect there to be much in the way of), audio files (which I don't think need to take up too much space), and event scripting (which shouldn't take up much space at all).

What would be efficient is to split by location. Midgar on one disc, the rest of the world on another. That can get annoying, but I can take it if there aren't compromises.

But I'm still sceptical it can't fit on one disc. Honestly, I would be annoyed but more accepting if size wasn't the claimed reason.

 

[aszach01]

^ It would've been better if the world map scale is the same as Dragon Quest VIII

 

[Miscreant]

I'm not sure if any of you follow Mr. Happy but I think he made some good points in his latest video.

 

[ForceStealer]

Essentially I want it to be like Sonic 3 & Knuckles which was released in two parts but is absolutely playable as a single game with no interruption.

This is a perfect example of what it should be when all is said and done for there to be significant positives from the approach. Good thinking, this is the exact model it should follow.

Also, optional content. Will each part have its own optional content? When I play part 2, can I go back to areas from part 1? If I miss something in part 1 but I already started part 2, how can I go back and get the thing and have it carry back over?

Can each part be played on its own or is a save-file required? Could someone just buy the last one and then basically jump straight to the finale?

Going back to Suzaku's FF Dimensions example, if they followed that model, the answer to these would be yes. Each chapter of Dimensions simply unlocked more game, but the game that was already there is still there and still completely explorable on the same save file. There was a level cap in each chapter, so you couldn't go to 99 in chapter 1, but then each chapter could have it's own side stuff or challenges and what have you.

And I would be fine with that, most likely. But Dimensions was a strictly by-the-numbers old school JRPG. So you're not going to have people complaining about combat mechanics between sections to have changed for the next section. But with VII everyone is going to have very strong opinions after each chapter about the combat, linearity, environments, story, etc. So you could theoretically wind up with one chapter of linear, action-heavy combat, and the next one could be sprawling and turn-based. How do you combine that at the end when all is said and done?

 

[Mayo Master]

Wow, one day and a half out and I got a lot to catch up on.
So... for the most part I'm on the same line of thought as Suzaku. Personally, I long ago thought that if you were on the developer's perspective, and you had new ambitions for the remake (such as making an open-world Midgar), then it would make sense to make several installments.
I was considering that FF VII could be released as have been Assassin's Creed II-Brotherhood-Revelations, for instance. The plot can be segmented, and the regions explored can be segmented as well, so in principle I'm not bothered by this "serialization". I daresay it might even be the only way to release the remake according to an ambitious scope, where one wishes to describe regions of the OG in detail, get more character development, etc. The gameplay could undergo a gradual improvement along the episode (meaning, more like ironing out the kinks). And most importantly, now I see how they could actually release a first part for the 20th anniversary and they keep on making a yearly release to have us play till 2020, meaning we wouldn't have to wait for everything to have been remade in order to be able to play it. How everything is going to be executed is another matter, however.

TL;DR: IMO there are very valid reasons behind that choice, some even to the players' advantage. Best to announce that quite a lot in advance and give the gaming community enough time to digest the news and accept the idea.

 

[Flintlock]

Same here, this is my first foray into this thread and it's already on its fourth page (eighth for those of you who haven't changed your forum display settings).

I'm pretty happy with this news, for the simple reason that it will make it easier for TLS to cover the release. If it all came out at once, we'd have an almighty scramble on our hands to cover it in as much depth as we'd like, as quickly as we'd like, especially since everyone will be locked in their bunkers playing the game for probably weeks on end. Now we should be able to handle it more easily.

<-- is still more excited about what the remake means for TLS than about playing the actual remake. How did you guys manage to not nominate me for most fervent TLSer?

 

[Interslicery]

Waiting on more info before I commit to an emotion, but as of now I'm horribly disappointed.

With a telltale game, or life is strange, or what have you, those are completely new stories we don't know about. With FFVII it's different. We know how the story's going to play out, so when I hit the end of an eps I'm gonna feel like, "Yup... sure wish I could continue playing the game right now." It'll break it up and diminish the impact.
I also DON'T want each eps to be its own contained thing. Like, eps 2 starts at rocket town or whatever, and you can't go back to the other content using the bronco cause that's not the focus of the eps. It'll make everything feel segmented and completely destroy my immersion in the world.
The only way I can see being fine with this, is if they break it up the way the original did between the disks. And I would tolerate it is I had to play through each eps separately, but my ideal for this situation, would be if like someone else said, (can't remember who, sorry) that once they're all released you can play through the whole thing uninterrupted. I do NOT want to see 3-5 sets of credits on a full playthough of this thing.

 

[Pixel]

I should really make a video, but I've been waiting for more information to go on. I think there should be enough now. Trying to get case of shinra and other projects done too :/

 

[Joe]

I think this news is pretty cool. Let's not forget that this game is being remade from the ground up. In no scenario was the remake ever going to be a 100% faithful remaster that every single FF7 fan was going to be happy with. This game came out like 16 years ago. What people want out of games and what developers look to do with those games has completely changed in that time. The remake isn't just for returning fans but for new players as well.

Episodic gaming is still something that is finding its feet. There are a lot of people that love it and a lot of people that don't. The same can be said for anything really, but in this case I really don't think it's as big of a deal as some are making it out to be. There will still be a full, coherent story from start to finish, whether you decide to play it in parts or when it's all available. People might argue that it means they are waiting longer for it all to be released but you could also argue that we'll be able to start playing it much earlier.

tl;dr - It's still going to be FFVII but times have changed. People might not have expected this but tbh it is infinitely more preferable to not having a remake at all. If people really don't like it then they can still play the original, which hasn't changed.

 

[Channy]

Same here, this is my first foray into this thread and it's already on its fourth page (eighth for those of you who haven't changed your forum display settings).

10th actually.

The only thing that causes trepidation in my mind is something a friend brought up while texting. He laughed, menacingly as he typed "You're a fool if you think you're getting out of Midgar in the first episode."

Now, the complete Midgar mission as eps one isn't unreasonable. It ranges from 4-8 hours depending on how fast and complete you play it. That's a good chunk. But then you take that amount of time into account for ongoing episodes... others in the thread have stated optimism for 3-5 episodes of the whole game. Really? You don't think it would be a whole lot bigger?

For SE who is worried about completeness in one single entity, I doubt they would then split it into just 3-5 parts. I think the likelihood of 5-8 parts is greater. And this isn't a bad thing, by any means, but it does increase waiting time for a complete game, a limited edition, etc, etc. But the more, bigger parts you have, I think it lends itself even more for a fully complete game, as stated by SE.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I'm happy to spend plenty of time in Midgar. I always did want an entire game set in that city.

 

[Kai Schulen]

My sole reaction to FFVII being released into episodes:

...*mutters darkly and looks at my bank account*

 

[Keveh Kins]

I'm curious about their use of the term episodes, because it brings up thoughts of TellTale games style instalments. My gut feeling is that they're gonna release it three or four parts. Effectively a trilogy or quadrilogy of full games continuing the same story.

My nasally voiced cynic is prepping for Final Fantasy VII Episode 58 - Corel Prison, part 1 though

 

[cold_spirit]

Siliconera posted a good summary of the Famitsu interview:
http://www.siliconera.com/2015/12/0...action-midgar-exploration-and-cross-dressing/

Spoiler: Details

Final Fantasy VII Remake&#8217;s key developers in Yoshinori Kitase and Tetsuya Nomura recently shared plenty of details during an interview with Famitsu. Here are some highlights from their conversation.

• The official title is Final Fantasy VII Remake. Square Enix thought about adding some kind of subtitle that is related to the game&#8217;s story, but they decided not to, since they didn&#8217;t want to give the wrong idea of it being some kind of &#8220;Legends&#8221; or a sequel-type game. They thought of different ideas, but in the end, they figured that having &#8220;Remake&#8221; in the official title would make it easiest to understand.
  
  
• Final Fantasy VII Remake will be done in multiple parts, rather than a single entry. The reason for this is because doing a full remake of Final Fantasy VII using today&#8217;s technology would be a lot of work. Kitase felt that having the &#8220;voluminous&#8221; feeling you get from Final Fantasy VII wouldn&#8217;t be able to work with just a single title for an HD remake.
  
  
• Nomura also commented on the subject saying that they would also have to make a lot of cuts if they decided to make it all under one title, and they would have no choice but to make it into a Final Fantasy VII &#8220;digest,&#8221; and they felt that it would be pointless to do a full remake if they were going to do just that.
  
  
• For example, you&#8217;ll get to explore various parts of Midgar that you weren&#8217;t able to in the original version; however, in order to do that, it would need to be pretty dense. Of course, that also means that some parts will be cut from the game, but overall they&#8217;re adding much more to it.
  
  
• As far as models go, Visual Works director is taking care of it, but they&#8217;re also getting a lot of help from external sources. Roberto Ferrari, the Italian designer for Square Enix, is focusing his work on sub-characters like Biggs and the others that we saw in the recent trailer. Additionally, Square Enix will get help for roles such as programmers, planners, and other core members from external companies.
  
  
• Some of the other companies that will be helping include CyberConnect2, who&#8217;ve also helped in the development of Final Fantasy VII: G-Bike.
  
  
• Kitase says that CyberConnect2 have experience and great knowhow in action games, and he feels that they have a special sense for cinematics; however, since their production &#8220;taste&#8221; is different from that of Square Enix&#8217;s, along with some complaints from Nomura, they decided to make the latest trailer closer to their own style.
  
  
• The characters we saw in the recent trailer looked very close to actual humans, and Nomura says that it&#8217;s their current goal to make it as realistic as possible.
  
  
• Square Enix is not using models from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, as it&#8217;s something from over 10 years ago, meaning that its technology is too old, and that it looks a bit too &#8220;deformed&#8221; when they look at it now. For the remake&#8217;s visuals, they&#8217;ve done numerous adjustments and balances between realistic and deformed parts of eyes, nose, hair, and other parts. They were finally able to settle on something they all liked.
  
• Everything that was shown in the latest trailer is from in-game footage, and not pre-rendered material. After the camera goes close up on Cloud when he&#8217;s on the train, it&#8217;ll throw you right into the game. Nomura says that as far as quality goes, they&#8217;re still brushing up on it, and they&#8217;re only going to keep making it look better from here.
  
  
• Famitsu mentions that Cloud looks a bit thin in the video, but Nomura says that it&#8217;s likely due to lighting, and also because of his pale skin.
  
  
• Next, they ask if that means we&#8217;ll get to see Cloud in his cross-dressing appearance. Nomura responds with a laugh saying yes, the cross-dressing scene is in the game, but they haven&#8217;t done the design for it yet.
  
  
• Square Enix was originally going to go with Barret&#8217;s Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children design, but they decided on going with a new design from scratch. Nomura says that they&#8217;ve wanted to make all the party members revamped from the beginning.
  
  
• When asked whether the battle system will be closer to Kingdom Hearts or Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Nomura says &#8220;if anything, it&#8217;s action,&#8221; and it&#8217;s completely different from Crisis Core. It might not be as much of an action title as say Dissidia Final Fantasy on arcade or the Kingdom Hearts series, but it leans more towards there.
  
  
• There is an ATB gauge, but it won&#8217;t be like the original version where you get to attack when the gauge fills up, but an action-based system that can only be done through the Final Fantasy VII Remake. Kitase says that they may even change the name to something else other than ATB. Nomura also teases that the part you&#8217;ll want to pay attention to is how &#8220;the ATB gauge may also turn red.&#8221;
  
  
• Parties will consist of three members, and you&#8217;ll get to freely switch between the characters, but it won&#8217;t be a requirement, as you can stay as the same character for the entire time.
  
  
• As far as the battle tempo goes, Nomura wants to make it close to that of Dissidia Final Fantasy on arcade. He says that what we saw in the trailer is simply the base of Final Fantasy VII Remake&#8217;s battle system, and that he&#8217;s currently thinking of some kind of original structure for the battle system that adds a strategic element, in the midst of being able to switch through characters, an action that involves more than simply hitting enemies.

In the long-run I think this is great for FFVII. The wait between episodes might be brutal, but hopefully we'll someday get a great and complete experience to reply for the rest of our lives.

 

[Channy]

I imagine by the time it's all done too, a full and complete version will be sold for the PS5.

 

[ultima espio]

http://kotaku.com/sounds-like-the-final-fantasy-vii-remake-will-be-episod-1746564216

It means instead of concluding in one entry, multiple entries are being considered in development. Each entry will have its own unique story. As a gaming experience, each entry will have the volume of content equal to a full-sized game.

Playable On the way to a smile maybe?

 

[Suzaku]

I am entirely unconvinced that the whole thing wouldn't fit on one BD, that's just silly.

I don't think they necessarily mean that they'd just be restricted by data limitations. I think what they mean is that to fully realize the scope of FFVII at the level they want to, it would take too long and cost too much money to try and fit it all into a single release.

I saw someone making comparisons to Witcher 3, but if we're talking about something approaching an open world game, that's kind of a ridiculous comparison. FFVII has three continents with about a dozen towns and cities, some of which are ridiculously large and filled with complex detail.


Now, I'm not convinced that Remake will be treated purely as an open world game, anyway, because like I said the scope would be kind of ridiculous even if it were broken up into multiple episodes. Midgar, Kalm, and the surrounding environments would be similar in size and scale to the entirety of GTAV, if not larger, and that's only a portion of the Eastern Continent.

I mean, look at it. And that's less than 1/16th of Midgar. Even if you can't access the entire city, building a flyable open world to that scale, and thus needing that environment to exist at scale, is probably impossible. So, if they ever do implement the airship, I'm sure it'll operate with a differently scaled world map.

However, if their goal is to create a game where something approaching that scale is possible, like making several sectors of Midgar explorable, in addition to the Wastelands and an expanded, full-sized Kalm...? I can completely understand the desire to break it up into parts if that's the case.