SPOILERS FFVII Remake Frustration Expression Thread (*Open Spoilers*)

[Odysseus]

Not going to be specific about the details, but there was a phase of the final boss where the game crapped out and I couldn't target the boss to attack it so I had to just wait until I died to try the whole fight again. I thought not being able to do damage was intentional until I got back and could attack the boss properly. Game is not without its issues.

 

[LNK]

Yeah, I'm really liking everything else (im at ch10). I just think keeping something like that only adds to the feel of the game, without harming the game. Oh well, maybe part 2

 

[lithiumkatana17]

Overall it doesn't make or break the game for me, but some small gripes here:

I didn't like how the camera angles became 'fixed' in certain spots of the game, mostly when you're traversing some wacky terrain like monkey bar obstacles.

I wish the mini map would've stayed permanently... would have helped me from getting turned around in Wall Market so much.

Also, the compass with objective markers on it was freaking useless. I kept bringing up the map constantly because even once you take on a quest, the original NPC you get it from is still marked... like no, show me the next objective, not the starting one!

Also, I'm not sure what it is with games nowadays (maybe I should come to accept that I'm becoming deaf as hell) but I had to turn the music volume down quite a few notches... A lot of dialogue kept getting drowned out by the music in some scenes. Easily rectified, but still.

 

[ForceStealer]

I wish the mini map would've stayed permanently... would have helped me from getting turned around in Wall Market so much.

It doesn't? What makes it go away?
I intentionally played with everything off the whole time so I could learn to navigate Midgar as naturally as possible.

 

[Tetsujin]

It doesn't? What makes it go away?

Accidentally pressing L2

 

[Cannon_Fodder]

I agree about the dialogue volume. I'm just using TV speakers, but even with turning down the SE and music I can barely hear some lines of dialogue in cutscenes, while other ones sound fine. It's probably my biggest complaint because I want to hear the music and the dialogue, but feel like i have to sacrifice one to really experience the other.

 

[AerithLives]

I was ready to give this game a solid 8/10 mark...until the end.
What on earth were they thinking?
Most of the remake was executed so well (ignoring those stupid Watchmen Of Fate which had me groaning and rolling my eyes every time they appeared).
It was just went from 1 too crazy on about 5 seconds in the last moments and is suddenly a bunch of incoherent Square Enix nonsense.

They were so close! ?

Is there a patch which can erase it? ????

 

[oty]

I mean yeah, the game is pretty much a 8/10 considering the ending. Great combat, great music, (mostly) great visuals, and (mostly) good story. 8 was really the lucky number this time for a lot of reviewers

 

[AerithLives]

I dunno. After that ending it has to be a 6 now.

It's just crapped over everything. It was just a load of flashy Square Enix nonsense. Everything is just so over hyped and there is no subtlety to anything.

 

[ExampleZ]

The consensus seems to be that people really love the game up until the final chapter, then they start to absolutely despise it. It's going to be interesting seeing how most people's reactions will change by the end of this week. I have to agree that the Watchmen of Fate crap did not belong in this game and Square screwed up big time when they decided to

Spoiler: (ending spoilers)

screw around with the story.

 

[ForceStealer]

For the most part I was on board with all the

Spoiler: (ending spoilers)

mysterious little flashforwards and even some of the dementor stuff as a fun bit of metacommentary. Like the game knows it's a remake.

But then it just went full insanity.

 

[ExampleZ]

Even before I knew what was happening I really didn't like the increased focus on Sephiroth. It just felt like cheap, tacky fanservice, which we've been given more than enough of with the compilation. And then there's the ending, which...yeah.

 

[AerithLives]

I agree with everything you've said ExampleZ.

I really didn't like the idea of Sephiroth "blah blah blahing" from start to finish and constantly in Clouds face. It destroys the build up, his mystique, and the gravity of the foe you are up against when you find things like Midgar Zolom on a spike. The subtlety of the original is lost.

That said, I was willing to forgive little things like that, as it's Square Enix after all, and I was just glad they hadn't butchered it like all their other modern FF games.
I was willing to compromise since so much was executed so well and they have clearly put a lot of effort into getting this right.

...Right until that ending. They stepped WAY over there mark there after balancing everything else so carefully. It's like they all took LSD and made the final chapter high as a kite.

I'm actually gutted...I didn't think an ending could be so bad. It was just terrible.

 

[Interslicery]

^
YES

 

[TheCannuck]

Alright, the thing that frustrates me the most about the remake is how they completely abandoned the tried and true FF formula. Besides the combat (which I really enjoy) it feels like I'm playing a resident evil game half the time. It's just so linear compared to every other FF game that's ever been made. I feel trapped most of the time with little to no exploration in most chapters. And even in the "free roam" chapters it's so very limited. I would've gladly waited a year or two longer and been fine with lesser graphics etc. to have larger/more areas to explore and more freedom of choice. I mean it's fucking Midgar! It's gigantic! Even the slums. Yet the game feels like it takes place in a small town in the countryside. I wanted to do some god damn exploring.

Second thing. Hard mode. What the actual fuck? The laziest aspect of the game if you ask me. They should've just been real and called it half assed annoying mode. In my mind the meeting about it went something like this. "Hey you guys want to come up with some creative and interesting way to make the game more difficult for a harder mode in endgame?" "Nah! We'll just disable item use." "Like, in battle?" "Nope. We'll just disable items completely. Don't worry though, we'll still have them pick up items that they can't use throughout the entire play through as a nice lazy slap in the face".

Third thing. The episodic style and to a greater extent the linear direction the devs took. Going back to my earlier vent. I would've gladly waited longer and been satisfied with lesser graphics to have a complete game. Back in the day, between my brothers and I, we put literally thousands of hours into FF7! That was one of the big draws for us! Open world exploration with tons and tons of secrets and things to build towards. Not run down hallway A, fight scripted encounter 1, run down hallway B and C, fight scripted encounter 2, grab the treasure chest that's in plain sight, rinse and repeat until boss fight. And how you gonna have an FF7 game without chocobo racing!?

I mean, I get that it's very difficult to do a whole old school FF type game in modern graphics. And with how most people seem to want all their games to be nothing more than a dumbed down instant gratification simulator these days. I doubt most people will even read this whole rant unless I put out a fucking audio book of it narrated by Charles Dance lol. But I feel like they played it far to safe and inside the box on this one. Like they made this game using marketing charts and getting their direction from guys in suits who've never played a video game in their lives instead of actually putting some fucking heart into it.

Having said that, with the exception of everything I just lost my cool over, I'm enjoying getting to jump back into the world of FF7 again. Even if it is in such a limited fashion. The game itself is beautiful. The characters (especially the minor ones) have so much more personality and depth. Except for Sephiroth of course. If Sephiroth was in a boy band it'd be called One Dimension. Oh, and of course Roche, the mako infused metrosexual Joe Dirt.

And the story...... A lot of people are pissed about the new direction of the story. Personally, I couldn't care less if they change the story in this alternate timeline kind of way. As long as they keep the heart of the original in mind. Aerith dying in the original was one of the saddest moments of my childhood and I would be fine if they let her live in the remake (I can't go through that again, especially since they gave her so much more personality in this one). Maybe they could just have her die at the end of the game so you don't lose such a valuable party member in the middle of the game. Especially if you put some time into building her like I did on my first play through of the original. But I could be wrong. It could turn out to be horrible shit show that Square Enix will never live down in a hundred years for having such a blatant disregard for their fan base. Time will tell I suppose.

Whew, sorry for ranting your ears off. But I had to get this off my chest and out in the interwebs for public record lol.

Later taters.

 

[Theozilla]

I do not understand the notion that the Remake is somehow more linear than the Midgar part of the OG was. The OG was incredibly linear as a whole until Disc 3, the Midgar portion especially. The Remake is significantly less linear, it just isn’t a top down fixed camera angle perspective.

And to insinuate that there isn’t any heart/passion going into the Remake is a ridiculous claim too.

 

[LNK]

I do not understand the notion that the Remake is somehow more linear than the Midgar part of the OG was. The OG was incredibly linear as a whole until Disc 3, the Midgar portion especial. The Remake is significantly less linear, it just isn’t a top down fixed camera angle perspective.

And to insinuate that there isn’t any heart/passion going into the Remake is a ridiculous claim too.

I agree on both points. Im guessing they are following the same structure of the story. Even in the next part (I like scenario 2 of what you think it'll be like, BTW) I wouldn't expect to have the airship. In fact, I hope we don't.

Also, I laughed and cried during this game waaaaayyyyy more than I did in the same section of the OG

 

[LNK]

Spoiler: Sources

I'm a little disappointed we didn't get sources as the way to build up the characters. Don't get me wrong, I like what we got with the weapon upgrade system. I just think they could've tied the sources into the lore of the Cetra. Then again, maybe SE could still decide to use them in part 2. They could say that Shinra had horded all of the Midgar ones in the HQ. Then once the team gets to Cosmo Canyon, Bugenhagen could talk about them and give cloud our first one.

 

[TheCannuck]

I do not understand the notion that the Remake is somehow more linear than the Midgar part of the OG was. The OG was incredibly linear as a whole until Disc 3, the Midgar portion especially. The Remake is significantly less linear, it just isn’t a top down fixed camera angle perspective.

And to insinuate that there isn’t any heart/passion going into the Remake is a ridiculous claim too.

I don't disagree that it's anymore linear than Midgar in the OG. But Midgar is ALL we're getting for 2-3 years until the next installment. In the OG it was perhaps 4-6 hours depending on how you play (grinding levels, farming items, secrets, etc.). Maybe I'm expecting to much by comparing this first episode to the OG as whole. I just think we could've seen more of Midgar. Perhaps we will in DLC in the mean time while we wait for the next one.

And perhaps I jumped the gun suggesting a lack of heart. Playing through hard mode atm and still have that hate in my heart of how lazily they decided to increase the difficulty (also being cooped up in quarantine isn't helping matters). Like I said, the game is beautiful and I'm enjoying it very much for the most part. It just seems small in scope compared to the OG and the FF series as a whole to me.

 

[Kratos]

I do not understand the notion that the Remake is somehow more linear than the Midgar part of the OG was. The OG was incredibly linear as a whole until Disc 3, the Midgar portion especially. The Remake is significantly less linear, it just isn’t a top down fixed camera angle perspective.

And to insinuate that there isn’t any heart/passion going into the Remake is a ridiculous claim too.

Not only that, it's also less linear than both FFX and FFXIII. Remake certainly has linear section, but it also has areas with chests off the beaten path and/or ones that require solving a puzzle of some kind to obtain. It does have a fair amount of real exploration.

 

[LNK]

I don't disagree that it's anymore linear than Midgar in the OG. But Midgar is ALL we're getting for 2-3 years until the next installment. In the OG it was perhaps 4-6 hours depending on how you play (grinding levels, farming items, secrets, etc.). Maybe I'm expecting to much by comparing this first episode to the OG as whole. I just think we could've seen more of Midgar. Perhaps we will in DLC in the mean time while we wait for the next one.

And perhaps I jumped the gun suggesting a lack of heart. Playing through hard mode atm and still have that hate in my heart of how lazily they decided to increase the difficulty (also being cooped up in quarantine isn't helping matters). Like I said, the game is beautiful and I'm enjoying it very much for the most part. It just seems small in scope compared to the OG and the FF series as a whole to me.

They could do a DLC with the Avalanche trio, that could be used for people that wanted more of Midgar, without it being something that's needed for the overall story.

How I tried to look at this remake, was to only compare it to the first Midgar section of the OG. Doing that, I feel like I got way more content than what we got the first time around. In my opinion, the two don't compare

 

[Knights of the Round]

I do not understand the notion that the Remake is somehow more linear than the Midgar part of the OG was. The OG was incredibly linear as a whole until Disc 3, the Midgar portion especially. The Remake is significantly less linear, it just isn’t a top down fixed camera angle perspective.

And to insinuate that there isn’t any heart/passion going into the Remake is a ridiculous claim too.

Yes, Midgar in OG was very linear. I think one of the mistakes people are making is trying to compare this with the OG in its entirety. OG really didn't open up until you got to the world map.

I didn't mind the area confinement so much. Most of my gripes are technical in nature. The textures are terrible, and while the art direction is fantastic and covers up much of that from a distance if you get anything close to the camera it looks like it's Straight Outta Dreamcast. Objects are low poly and blurry as can be. It's jaw-droppingly bad. Some are saying it's a PS5 prep issue, though, and if that's true I can deal with it. Still - they should've put more work into making them look half-way decent.

The camera is surprisingly bad in some places, most notably when you're climbing up ladders, rounding stairwells or squeezing through thin areas where it just wildly zooms around without you prompting it to. It's aggravating.

I hated the whispers at first, but once I found out the depth the game has and the role they play I'm fine with them.

The music is fantastic, though there were a few tracks I didn't care for most of it was really well done. The voice acting is phenomenal for the main characters.. for NPC side quests it's lacking. The emotional pull of the main characters is great ("Cloud... you're scaring me.") The look and feel of the main cast is perfect and true to the OG.

I didn't like Sephiroth being shoved in your face so much early on, but after playing it through and taking everything in I understand why they did that now.

Spoiler

Cloud's having constant flashbacks throughout his journey, the journey we already went with him on in the OG.

The combat is f^@%! fantastic, with lots of depth. Still discovering new things with it, and it really takes off once you assign shortcuts to your abilities.

Overall I'd give it a 9.25/10. It's lacking some polish that should be there, but I still love the hell out of it and am on a second play-through already.

 

[TheCannuck]

The combat is f^@%! fantastic, with lots of depth. Still discovering new things with it, and it really takes off once you assign shortcuts to your abilities.

Totally agree. The combat is my favorite aspect of the remake. What they need to do now is to implement a menu based, non chapter locked arena/combat simulator with free choice of party for endgame. Add more battles, and maybe a few of the boss enemies in the mix and I'd play it endlessly.

 

[Wol]

and please add manual Jump and Aerial Combos, plus team-attacks like in FFXV.

minor issue that irked me was that magic didnt affect the field, kinda unnatural to see magical effects vanishing instantly.

 

[Random Nobody]

bredrin, i went in with some warning and i still feel like i got hatecrimed by this game.