SPOILERS FFVII Remake Open Spoiler Discussion Thread

[OWA-2]

If it ends at Nibelheim, I can see it interchanging with the flashback. Some time anomaly, or Sephiroth's illusion, or the power of memories affecting reality, or whatever crazyness you can think of, making Cloud re-live the incident, while making everyone(including us) confused about when we are, the past or the present? Something pretty crazy, surreal, confusing, and epic, like the end of part one.

Imagine if we have to fight multiple 'Sephiroths'(clones), and then a fully formed Jenova as a final boss(since Jenova's full body was contained in a tank in the Nibel reactor in the past, but since the past and present are mixed together, she/it is still there to fight us). Hell, one of the devs even said they wanted Jenova to help Sephiroth, during the fight in Crisis Core. And we know they tend to use thrown out ideas in later games.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

That would be Nojima who wanted Zack to fight Jenova at the NIbelheim Reactor. Nomura put his foot down and said they were not doing that.

In Remake, Nojima wanted the gang to fight Jenova in the Shinra building and Nomura okayed it....

 

[Makoeyes987]

No, that was Kitase who wanted that, not Nojima.

That was from the Dengeki PS magazine in Vol.396 after CC was released, @The Twilight Mexican translated it before and he probably remembers. But no, Nojima wasn't interested in that, Kitase has always been the wildcard.

 

[Ite]

I find it fascinating how so much energy and speculation is devoted to conflicts — real or imaginary — in the FF writer’s room, often (not so much here as elsewhere) assigning blame for certain disliked plot points. Even I am guilty of that mentality, and yet, when I’m on the other side of it, as part of a writing team, I feel a sense of ownership of all parts, good and bad.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

That's why I *really* try to not blame the devs too much for stuff. They are having fun with it on their end. They probably like how it's all turning out. Who comes up with an idea is less important than that the entire team is inovlved with the brain-storming. And there's a lot of fun to be had brain-storming out how a story will turn out with other people as you go.

 

[Smoothie King]

For me... no more Sephiroth fights until that SOB is angel form hovering against a pink and blue sky.

Seriously... If there's four or five parts? How many times are we going to beat this guy up and suspend disbelief that this time he's really a threat?

 

[Roundhouse]

If P2 ends at Nibelheim as many speculate, look forward to another Seph boss battle at the end, seeing as he's waiting in the Nibelheim Mansion, and the opportunity is too good for the devs to pass up.

 

[Smoothie King]

If P2 ends at Nibelheim as many speculate, look forward to another Seph boss battle at the end, seeing as he's waiting in the Nibelheim Mansion, and the opportunity is too good for the devs to pass up.

Ahh, I would hate that. One of the most powerful moments of the Remake was in the Shinra building, watching that video of the Ancients and Shinra. You see this unbelievably powerful corporation who has been kicking your ass thoroughly for the entirety of the game... and then you hear Sephiroth's music, and see him destroy the shining symbol of Shinra's city within seconds. And it's at that moment you realize that your TRUE enemy is far beyond anything you could possibly imagine.

... and then you beat him a few hours later. I can forgive it at this point because you're not actually fighting the real Sephiroth, but the novelty of beating up on a weaker Sephiroth will wear out quickly.

Guys, I'm not trying to be a downer here! I'm completely obsessed, I just don't want them to shoot themselves in the foot.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

I mean I agree with you...I just think three parts looks increasingly unrealistic and hoping against hope that they at least contain themselves to four.

I think Yuffie's DLC has almost solidified for me that there will be four parts. It just seems like Wutai is in for too much narrative expansion on top of everything else going on for it to be contained to three -- but I do remain hopeful.

If we really want it to stay at three parts, though, you know what we have to do: become influential, bitter YouTube personalities who convince most gamers to let Part 2 underperform financially. 'Cause that shit works.

The final confrontation in Cloud's mind is gonna feel like washing the dishes by that point

To be fair, that's all it was in the original.

... and then you beat him a few hours later.

Not really, though? More that he just leaves once he's said his peace and handily schooled Cloud.

 

[Eerie]

I find it fascinating how so much energy and speculation is devoted to conflicts — real or imaginary — in the FF writer’s room, often (not so much here as elsewhere) assigning blame for certain disliked plot points. Even I am guilty of that mentality, and yet, when I’m on the other side of it, as part of a writing team, I feel a sense of ownership of all parts, good and bad.

I'm co-writing a story with a friend (for fun purposes) and... while we sometimes disagree on details, we come to agree on them and own the whole story, yeah. This is how it goes down when you co-create something, you own every bit of it, but it's a mix of everyone involved. That's why I generally refer to "the devs" because it's their story. And they're really having fun with it!

 

[cold_spirit]

I see this story as a collaborative effort between a bunch of folks: Kitase, Nomura, Toriyama, Hamaguchi, Nojima, and probably others who remain out of the spotlight. AAA games are so big these days that no one person is responsible for any one aspect. The narrative that certain devs (especially Nomura) are to blame for certain plots points is... wrong to me. We have no clue of 99% of what happens behind the scenes. Everything we do hear about is heavily filtered by PR. Despite this, fans are quick to point fingers. "Crazy Nomura" memes especially have stopped being funny to me for a looong time now.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

They're having more fun with it than I am.

 

[KindOfBlue]

I think Yuffie's DLC has almost solidified for me that there will be four parts. It just seems like Wutai is in for too much narrative expansion on top of everything else going on for it to be contained to three -- but I do remain hopeful.

On the other hand though, maybe three parts for the main story and DLCs to fill in the gaps?

I guess bookending at Nibelheim makes sense but I kinda think that idea is overrated lol namely because the plot is mostly a lot of exposition and some occasional hijinks between the Nibelheim flashback up until the return there, so that means a fair bit of filler will be needed to pad out the plot…I dunno about y’all, but I’d be fine waiting until 2024 if it means we can go as far as the Forgotten City or the Northern Crater

They're having more fun with it than I am.

Hey now, ain’t no stoppin’ this train we’re on, might as well lighten up and enjoy the ride lol

 

[Roundhouse]

I'll start having fun when Genesis returns, reciting LOVELESS from beginning to end. If they do want a Laguna style approach for Zack with his own group, he should hang out with Genesis, Kunsel, and Cissnei. That would be a fun team to watch.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

My big thing is that Junon, Costa del Sol and Corel/Gold Saucer are all *ripe* for being vastly expanded upon. The one problem is... they are all one right after the other and are *very* linear. I feel like those *have* to be broken up somehow between two games.

Ending Part 2 at Costa Del Sol actually lets you do something interesting in Part 3: go from Gold Saucer to Gold Saucer. Your first big stop in Part 3 would be Corel and Gold Saucer... and then end with getting the Keystone at Gold Saucer, but before the date. That's the high point of the entire OG where everything looks like it could go right.

And then start off Part 4 with losing the Keystone and you have a very straight line of Temple of the Ancients, Forgotten City and Northern Crater...

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

If they stick to the original plot, is the route from Midgar to Junon sufficiently eventful to provide 40+ hours of gameplay? One of the joys of the OG was the way its pacing swept you along. I'll be happy for them to expand the Midgar-Junon section if the additions are interesting and meaningful, but not if they pad it with fetch quests and "helping out".

 

[KindOfBlue]

but not if they pad it with fetch quests and "helping out".

This is bound to happen either way but I think it’s even more likely with more parts, hence why I still prefer 3 parts but no more than 4

 

[Eerie]

I think they’re going to have a lot of changes in the last part personally. After the Lifestream scene, you have way too much grinding and the search for huge materia etc. going on, but in fact little is going on aside that. So they’re going to have a lot of work there, compared to stuff before that is largely writing itself.

Next part, we’re definitely going to have quests in Kalm and Junon added to breathe life in. The thing I really want to know is how many parts they plan, so we can have a rough idea of how much they are expanding. I do expect a “fun” chapter to take place in each part, ala Wall Market, allowing for the player to breathe and have fun. The GS date will definitely happen, but not in next part, so I kind of expect Costa del Sol to fill that part instead. But… if they want to expand too much, then isn’t it going to be complicated to even reach Costa del Sol? Here’s to hope that they won’t make a game centered only around Midgar’s continent.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I wonder how they're going to include the chocobo breeding and racing with any kind of realism at all.

 

[Odysseus]

They'd all be inbred and deformed if there was any realism involved in chocobo breeding.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I worded that poorly. I meant realistically within the time frame. The OG completely ignores the weeks, if not months, it would take for a bird of that size to grow to maturity and be trained for racing, and it works because the OG doesn't aim for realism. But for a bird to pop out of an egg fully grown and ready to race as soon as it had eaten some greens would be absurd - like leaving Marlene in charge of the bar, which they didn't do in the Remake because it wouldn't be believable. The developers put a lot of thought into the timing of events in the Remake. Cloud can't take half a year off to breed chocobos.

 

[Keveh Kins]

 

[Roundhouse]

Cloud can't take half a year off to breed chocobos.

*SE Lurker sees this and sprints into the VIIR writing room*

'Someone online just came up with a perfect way to pad out the games beyond what we planned! Forget the water filters, this is much better and will extend the series to 10 parts!'

*Everyone in the office starts shouting in excitement and they toast to LicoriceAllsorts*

 

[ForceStealer]

Cloud
"Meteor's gonna fall in about...."

Red
"300 more days, that's what Grandfather said."

Barret
"Three hundred?! Let's go nuts!"

Cloud
"Carob nuts!"

 

[Roundhouse]

Spoiler