...I'll bite. What's your narrative bias against chapters? lol
FFVII REMAKE COMING TO PS4 ON MARCH 3 2020
- Thread starter Cloud_S
- Start date
- AKA
- Ite
They're unimmersive, especially when they have titles. Once Chapters 1 and 2 are concluded, you can tell reflexively the length and breadth of all following chapters - with a general trend towards longer and broader. Titled chapters set up an expectation about what's coming next. Combined with the knowledge of roughly what a "chapter" means in terms of time, scope, and breadth, and suddenly I see this game as a series of interactive short films instead of a story unfolding before me. It also forces certain story beats to bulk up or be condensed down into steady chunks of time.
And I'm not saying it's always a bad thing. Final Fantasy Tactics uses "Chapters" to great effect, because it's framed as a historian's account. There are four chapters in Final Fantasy Tactics, each long enough that you forget the story is even segmented. And the titles are so generic that they don't spoil anything that the prologue hadn't already.
"Chapter 1: Mako Reactor" comprises about 15-30 minutes of the OG's gameplay, probably now an hour. You can extrapolate out and "name" every 30-minute-long chunk of the OG and it starts to feel unnatural.
So yeah, a mod to remove that text would be greatly appreciated by me.
pxp
Pro Adventurer
I recommend downloading this uncompressed version of the trailer if you haven't already:
- AKA
- Minato
The telling of the story of Sephiroth's downfall by Cloud is a clear narrative shift in my eyes so calling it a different chapter is fine with me.
- AKA
- Tets
You can download that from Square Enix directly: https://press.na.square-enix.com/products/p324/final-fantasy-vii-remake
- AKA
- TresDias
None of these issues really applied to FFXV, and most of that game is even open world.
Cannon_Fodder
Pro Adventurer
I see your point, but it's kinda funny that chapters make you think of a series of short films instead of a story, when stories (or rather novels) are the ones with chapters in the first place
- AKA
- Ite
Chapters came about because "novels" were invented as serialized short stories published in newspapers/magazines (Great Expectations was one of the first novels and it was published in that way.) Chopping up a fully published book has a different function these days that isn't based on serial publication. Chapter breaks in modern novels are kind of like save points for readers, a natural place for you to put the book down. Scanning ahead for a chapter break is kind of like saying "is there a save point soon? It's 1am."
Naming chapters in novels usually happens in YA fiction such as Harry Potter where it helps set expectations for the reader. It's sometimes used in adult fiction but rarely. It's not a convention that I enjoy.
I should admit that during my first pass novelizing FF7 I titled every chapter, and removed chapter headings from the second draft onwards for precisely this reason.
Naming chapters in novels usually happens in YA fiction such as Harry Potter where it helps set expectations for the reader. It's sometimes used in adult fiction but rarely. It's not a convention that I enjoy.
I should admit that during my first pass novelizing FF7 I titled every chapter, and removed chapter headings from the second draft onwards for precisely this reason.
- AKA
- The Engineer
I think it depends what they do with the Chapters. Chapters (or quest titles) are needed to create natural starting/stopping points if a game ever wants individual Chapters/Quests to be repayable without starting a New Game +. Which in a story as narrative focused as FFVII would be fantastic.
The best example I can give of this is Sleeping Dogs, which lets you reset all the individual Main Scenario Quests from the main menu and play them through again in their entirety to get better scores or just the watch the cutscenes agin. With all the OP and upgraded gear you now have!
Given how much of FFVII depends on previous parts of the story to set things up, I can see the game designers wanting people to be able to easily go back and watch all the important cut-scenes again after certain things in the plot happen. It's one thing to watch Sephiroth messing with Cloud's head in Midgar when you don't know what Sephiroth wants Cloud to do. It's another when you've gotten past the Northern Crater or the Lifestream and are watching thost things again.
The best example I can give of this is Sleeping Dogs, which lets you reset all the individual Main Scenario Quests from the main menu and play them through again in their entirety to get better scores or just the watch the cutscenes agin. With all the OP and upgraded gear you now have!
Given how much of FFVII depends on previous parts of the story to set things up, I can see the game designers wanting people to be able to easily go back and watch all the important cut-scenes again after certain things in the plot happen. It's one thing to watch Sephiroth messing with Cloud's head in Midgar when you don't know what Sephiroth wants Cloud to do. It's another when you've gotten past the Northern Crater or the Lifestream and are watching thost things again.
- AKA
- TresDias
I sound like a broken record, but FFXV again.
rimavelle
Pro Adventurer
- AKA
- rima
It's way easier to manage your saves if it provides "chapter" name. "Oh I left my party on world map next to Nibelheim... So now we go... wait, where are we in the story?".
My adventure in FFIX ended this way. I saved on world map. Forgot where in the story I was, so just gave up.
My adventure in FFIX ended this way. I saved on world map. Forgot where in the story I was, so just gave up.
Tashasaurous
Tash for Short
- AKA
- Sailor Moon, Mini Moon, Hotaru, Cardcaptor Sakura, Meilin, Xion, Kairi, Aqua, Tifa, Aerith, Yuffie, Elena, Misty, May, Dawn, Casey, Fiona, Ellie
Well, at least everyone didn't have to wait for ten years for the Remake after it was announced with a bunch of trailers and then nothing at all like FFXV did back when it was Versus XIII until it was changed into it's permanent title and at least it wasn't transfered from PS4 to PS5 like the said game did either.(From PS3 to PS4 I mean for FFXV)
Okay, so it's five years next year for even the first part of the Remake, but at least not ten. It'll just take a lot longer before anyone will see the ending due to the developers not certain how many parts the game will have.
I still think it'll be a trilogy, four parts at the most. Hard to tell.
Ditto. I wish there was a Japanese SE Press site (nor do I understand the lack of one).
Recreation of sector 1 station in the E3's FFVIIRemake booth was close 1:1 with the game, these posters are the same, damn!
And here we can see the first easter egg in FFVII Remake related with the compilation:
And here we can see the first easter egg in FFVII Remake related with the compilation:
Cannon_Fodder
Pro Adventurer
Man, now I can't wait to track down all the different kinds of Shinra propaganda in-game. . .
Tashasaurous
Tash for Short
- AKA
- Sailor Moon, Mini Moon, Hotaru, Cardcaptor Sakura, Meilin, Xion, Kairi, Aqua, Tifa, Aerith, Yuffie, Elena, Misty, May, Dawn, Casey, Fiona, Ellie
Maybe ShinRa probably wanted everyone to forget about Sephiroth due to what happened in Nibelhiem and not just hire actors to replace the dead and/or experimented survivors of the incident. Allowing both to continue existing and leaks going out into the public would make the Company bad.
I'd say that the changing posters is for the Compilation reference, but that's not the case in the Remake.
- AKA
- Smooth Criminal
...It's an advertisement for cans of Banora White apple juice. That's an obvious easter egg reference to the Compilation, specifically Crisis Core. They didn't just randomly choose purple apple juice to have as an ad all across the city Shinra controls.
I
I
Mayo Master
Pro Adventurer
The poster featuring the "Clear Icicle" mineral water really caught my eye, since during my work for Team Avalanche I had imagined a particular beer brand
- AKA
- Smooth Criminal
I can't remember where it was posted or showcased, but wasn't there some sort of emphasis or news featuring these new FFVII brands at E3? Specifically that puppy? Like we'd he seeing more of that puppy and those other signs?
I was reviewing the FF30th Exibithion photos when ....WTF!!! one of Aerith's lines surprised me.
Is this a reference to Stamp the Dog? Could mean that Aerith had a pet?
She talk assuming that "Stamp" is no longer alive, maybe could have been captured and subjected to Shinra experiments?
Is this a reference to Stamp the Dog? Could mean that Aerith had a pet?
She talk assuming that "Stamp" is no longer alive, maybe could have been captured and subjected to Shinra experiments?
LNK
Pro Adventurer
- AKA
- Nate
I'm doing this with the ff15 compilation. The lore and story of 15 intrigued me a lot. I'd love to check out your ff7 book