FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE Demo Out Now!

[Jairus]

Just got done beating the demo, and dang, but it's amazing! Took a little bit to get used to the combat system, but once I did it felt natural, and the smack talk between Cloud and Barret is just priceless - it was great hearing them go at it, and it's as fun writing it as it is to watch it (just got done writing their initial meeting in my Lifestream revision, and that was a lot of fun to do, especially with Tifa getting frustrated by it all).

Thought I was going to lose to the Scorpion Sentinel a few times, especially when that energy barrier went up - I had a hard time targeting the field generator at first. But somehow I managed it, though Cloud did get KO'd once or twice. Hearing Barret get on him for it was funny, though. I still don't know what Moogle Medals are for, any idea?

But dang, if the first boss of the game is this tough, I can't imagine how the others will be. It doesn't seem like there are any random encounters, but I might try running around a bit when I go through the demo again and see if any come up. Hopefully I'll do better against the boss next time, too.

And I agree with Ody, Jessie's characterization was great - smart, flirty, and fun to have around. I just wish her fate could be changed, but I know it won't be. Biggs and Wedge were great, too, what was shown of them. The little conversation between Biggs and Jessie at the gate when she's going on about Cloud was pretty funny, as was Wedge trying to be all chummy with Cloud and him not having any part of it. I'm looking forward to seeing how Cloud's attitude toward the three changes as the game goes on.

All that said, I still didn't feel like Jessie was in immediate enough danger for that to be the moment she's talking about when Cloud saved her life. I feel that it should be something where if he clearly didn't act within seconds, she'd be a goner. But she was just lying there, pinned but with no roboguards threatening her or something. Something to give you a real feel that she would die if Cloud didn't help her right away. The same for when they're running onto the catwalk. He just helps her up, but it's not like she couldn't have gotten up on her own after a moment. So maybe she's talking about something we haven't seen yet.

All in all, though, it was great! And I just have to say... this game is real. It's really real...

 

[LNK]

I'm just gonna wait till the game comes out....

Meee tooooo

 

[LNK]

According to Famitsu, this is the theme you get if you have it downloaded before May 11th:

Might be different outside of Japan, but I doubt it.

I'm not gonna cave, I'm not gonna cave... Ohhhh, I like that theme. Maybe I'll just download it so I can have that haha

 

[Saven]

Fortunately my girlfriend was home today so she downloaded and installed it for me for when I came home. That's love. It was the longest day at work though...!

Wasn't it terrific? It's going to take me several goes to get any good at it, I think I was just as bad as the data miners. I made a right dog's dinner of the Scorpion fight. It's a good job there were so many potions knocking about.

I'd watched the leaks but having it in your hands was very special.

Spoiler: Music

Did anyone notice that the music had changed up slightly? The reactor music in particular? Not a complaint by any stretch, I think they've done a brilliant job with all of it...

Spoiler

Yeah, I noticed that too. Was the Sweeper version of the Mako Reactor theme new too? I don't remember hearing that in any of the previews or the leak

 

[Rydeen]

Is it weird that I'm dreading how I'm gonna balance school with the remake? Though when I think about it, there will be only about 1 month left to the semester by the time the game drops. Maybe I should wait another month, because I'm not sure if I can control myself the moment I boot it up the first time.

I don't wanna go to school. I just wanna play FFVII. I guess some things never change!
*flashbacks of marathoning through the Shinra building with my brother all night and then pretending to be sick the next day*

 

[Saven]

Is it weird that I'm dreading how I'm gonna balance school with the remake? Though when I think about it, there will be only about 1 month left to the semester by the time the game drops. Maybe I should wait another month, because I'm not sure if I can control myself the moment I boot it up the first time.

I don't wanna go to school. I just wanna play FFVII. I guess some things never change!
*flashbacks of marathoning through the Shinra building with my brother all night and then pretending to be sick the next day*

It'll seem daunting at first, but you can do it. When I worked on the movie Carol for my internship that semester (along with other school film projects), I somehow got a 100% playthrough of Legend of Dragoon in. It took about a good month though lol.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

Also, just saw this on Twitter, and it kinda made my day:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1234529240629989378

X

 

[Teioh]

Also, try not to use Thunder for a little bit at the beginning of the Scorpion Sentinel fight to hear some funny banter from Cloud getting annoyed with Barret.

There's a post on tumblr showing Jessie's responses to Cloud getting zapped by the lasers which is just as fun. I'm loving the dialogue so far. Wont get a chance to play properly until tomorrow though.

 

[Jairus]

Oh, yeah, those are hilarious. I think Jessie's gonna be very popular once the remake hits, if the demo's anything to go by. She's just got so many great lines. I mean, everyone has some, but she's got some real gems.

"Do you... have a fetish or something?"
"There's a fine line between being daring and being dumb."

 

[Tetsujin]

I can't believe I live in a world where I have played a slice of the Remake. D:

It. Is. Real.

 

[Theozilla]

So there are parts of the Demo that go beyond the first bombing run? How much of those extra bits are there?

 

[Shademp]

@Theozilla

Spoiler

When the bombing run ends all you get are some brief flashes forward of Cloud's journey to- and through Sector 8.

If I recall correctly the previous demo ended immediately after defeating the Scorpion Sentinel, while this officially released demo has you actually running out of the mako reactor.

Favorite line in my playthrough:

Spoiler

Barret: Don't compliment the giant scorpion.

Got some wonderful FFVII TFS Abridged vibes from that one.

 

[AllGoodInMyHood]

Hello, first post here! I'll go ahead with my impressions.

Let's start with the looks. Trailers looked great from the start, but seeing this in motion is like a blessing. Lightning, environments, animations and effects are raising the bar for other games. If you look closely you'll see repeating small assets, but to point it out as a con would be just nitpicking. I won't say a bad word about this game when talking about visuals.

Audio is also amazing. I can't wait for the whole soundtrack cause the FF7Remake vinyl isn't enough to quench my thirst for more. Was unable to switch to japanese voice and that was a major bummer in audio department. Don't get me wrong, english audio is nice and all, but I prefer japanese voices above everything. Hopefully changing the language for console fixes that in the demo.

Gameplay is also great. The only thing that annoyed me was button layout and I've found myself often opening menu and then pressing O in order to select an action, but instead of interaction with the menu item I was closing the menu. Hopefully we will be able to configure this in full game (or maybe we can do it already but I haven't been looking for this in menus).

To summarize, game will probably be amazing, but deep inside I've heard myself saying "original was better" - maybe I'm just old. Barret is a bit off in both english and japanese - he sounds like an angry teenager sometimes. Too late to give him "mr. good advice" vibe back - too bad.

 

[ForceStealer]

So there are parts of the Demo that go beyond the first bombing run? How much of those extra bits are there?

@Theozilla

Spoiler

When the bombing run ends all you get are some brief flashes forward of Cloud's journey to- and through Sector 8.

More than that,

Spoiler

They're a collection of scenes that closely mirror the 2015 PSX trailer!

 

[Shademp]

If you look up developer interviews you will know that a primary focus with the original FFVII was to diminish- and disguise loading times. Likely this is why there is no screen with the text "Loading..." present in that game.

Playing FFVIIR is like the wet dream of that developer goal, since transitions are so seamless with almost no loading times to speak of. Everything is so gosh darn seamless though...that I'm worried it will be like this all the way through FFVIIR. Where are the quiet moments with a transition to a few seconds of darkness while the game is loading? The lack of fade-out-fade-in transitions stresses me out because I feel like the game doesn't take time to breathe, thus giving me no time to breathe either.

That's just me nitpicking though. As expected we are looking at a high-intensity experience compared to the more calm, laid back original game.

I hope I can learn how to deal with the Shock Troopers. Those foes gave me perhaps the most trouble of all and got close to KO'ing Cloud twice.

 

[Jairus]

Oh, I know, Shad. And to think, they used to be Grunts you could knock around in your sleep...

 

[Makoeyes987]

Yeah, you're gonna wake up and take those Shock Troopers seriously

I fucking lol'd at how legit they are now. Those outfits and modifications aren't for show now. They take their job seriously.

 

[Tetsujin]

I completely forgot about using shortcuts during my playthrough :'D

Been drinking those potions like they're water too

 

[Fangu]

I watched my boyfriend play it. It's certainly not on the easier end, I mean, perfectly doable, but you have to get into the battle system to be able to play it. I can't really say as I didn't play it myself, probably will later. I really love the "lobby" music, it sounds great. It doesn't sound like real orchestration, but that's fine, I think it suits the game.

The English voices are... a bit on the odd end for me. Will probably play the game itself with JP voices.

I still don't know what Moogle Medals are for, any idea?

Inventory suggests it's a collectible, I'm guessing collectibles will be a trophy in the end

I can't believe I live in a world where I have played a slice of the Remake. D:

It. Is. Real.

You know, I was telling my boyfriend while he was playing it "...this is kinda absurd. I remember years ago people wanting this remake with me not really being onboard for it, plus thinking it'll never happen, and now these people actually got their remake. And here it is." It was just so odd.

 

[Clean Cut Chaos]

It was everything I dreamed of... it does definitely take some getting used to. I liked switching between the two rather than just issuing commands all the time.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

I hope I can learn how to deal with the Shock Troopers. Those foes gave me perhaps the most trouble of all and got close to KO'ing Cloud twice.

The fight with the Shock Troopers is when I finally figured out to use the combat system better:

• As Cloud run up close to them, switch into Punisher Mode, and then Guard.
• They'll melee attack you, you'll instantly counter, and knock them down.
• Then just wreck them while they're stunned.

This is why I really wanna go back and replay it again now. The enemies have a rhythm and a pacing that you can learn to counter them effectively.


X

 

[Fangu]

I'm happy I read your previous post about Punisher X, when bf ko'd to the STs I could backseat him through it xD

 

[Clean Cut Chaos]

There isn't a huge difference between camera distance 1 and 3, but I liked it a bit more zoomed out on 3.

 

[pxp]

If you look up developer interviews you will know that a primary focus with the original FFVII was to diminish- and disguise loading times. Likely this is why there is no screen with the text "Loading..." present in that game.

Playing FFVIIR is like the wet dream of that developer goal, since transitions are so seamless with almost no loading times to speak of. Everything is so gosh darn seamless though...that I'm worried it will be like this all the way through FFVIIR. Where are the quiet moments with a transition to a few seconds of darkness while the game is loading? The lack of fade-out-fade-in transitions stresses me out because I feel like the game doesn't take time to breathe, thus giving me no time to breathe either.

That's just me nitpicking though. As expected we are looking at a high-intensity experience compared to the more calm, laid back original game.

I hope I can learn how to deal with the Shock Troopers. Those foes gave me perhaps the most trouble of all and got close to KO'ing Cloud twice.

I don’t think it helps that Chapter One is a really intense in media res - I’m sure there’ll be downtimes and moments of extreme calm, stillness, solitude - and maybe even artistry in the new format that you might get from just, say, standing still in certain locations (particularly outside of Midgar/later instalments. Even just standing there and looking up at the Mako Reactor, it felt like I was on the outskirts of a living, breathing city at night. Like really felt like it. Doing the same at a beach or Cosmo Canyon or say Gaia’s Cliff is going to be outstanding. In terms of story though that’s different and difficult to predict.
I know what you mean though to a certain extent.

 

[Lex]

I've just seen some of the press footage and there's actually some stuff cut from the demo (some flashback scenes)! Which is nice

Here's my entire playthrough, I streamed it on Twitch.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/560880390