Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier

[The Twilight Mexican]

They never billed it that way, they just advertised it as a way to experience the Compilation and FFVII again, now on a mobile platform and reminiscent of the classic style of FFVII.

Ehhh, the very first thing shown in the announcement trailer is the sentence "Another possibility for a remake," and Nomura then described the game as "another form of remake of the original FF7" and emphasized that it's "a work based on the original" in ways that Remake is not, and that it is distinct from Remake.

Lmao Nomura must feel like he can never make two characters look similar without touching off an avalanche of theorizing.

I mean, Kingdom Hearts ...

I'm 100% sure that the explanation for what is happening in Remake, will be explained in Remake.

Not in a cellphone game.

I mean, Kingdom Hearts ...

 

[Makoeyes987]

See, I thought that it meant the style and turn based combat, as a call back to the classic style of FFVII. But, now you're giving me scary Union X plot vibes

 

[cold_spirit]

Ehhh, the very first thing shown in the announcement trailer is the sentence "Another possibility for a remake," and Nomura then described the game as "another form of remake of the original FF7" and emphasized that it's "a work based on the original" in ways that Remake is not, and that it is distinct from Remake.

Hmm, to me, all that sounds closer to Mako's description "it's a way to experience the Compilation and FFVII again" than to Obsidian's "what if we did an *actual* Remake".

I guess my problem with the latter description is that it requires Square to indirectly admit that Remake isn't actually a remake, which they will never say until the series is complete or til the end of time, whichever is sooner.

I've seen the interpretation before that Ever Crisis is made for people that want "just a straight remake." It's a bit cynical. I think that Kitase, Nomura, and the whole gang genuinely believe that with Remake, they are delivering a remake of the original game *and more*. Whether or not a person agrees or likes the "and more" content is another question.

 

[Makoeyes987]

I also believe it's more the writers are presenting Ever Crisis FFVII as being a Remake more in a literal, stylistic sense in regards to making the game a recreation of the gameplay style of the PS1 classic. Turn based combat, overhead camera angles, text dialogue, etc.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

We know it's not turn-based combat though. It's based on Remake's combat with Remake's character/environment models...

 

[Makoeyes987]

It's definitely ATB turn based. It shares the models and artworks of the Remake but that doesn't mean it's the same system. In the trailer, you see each character in battle highlight while their ATB bar fills. And with each command given, a segment of the bar depletes. It's all ATB and command based, and you give commands based on when they have enough ATB to perform them. It resembles XIII and XIII-2's combat.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Yes, Nomura specified in the Famitsu interview I linked above that EC's battle system will be based on the ATB of the original game.

 

[TurquoiseHammer]

I think what gave me the impression that Ever Crisis would follow the original continuity was the very meticulous 1:1 presentation of it, from the field screens and camera angles to the actual text itself. For instance, in Remake Cloud doesn't hear Sephiroth's voice in Reactor 1, he only sees the black feather, whereas in the Ever Crisis trailer we see him hearing Sephiroth's voice like in the original.

That does raise some interesting questions though, assuming they're going to follow the OG. What will they do about Honeybee Inn? The blood trail leading up to the President's office? I suppose because of the graphics they can get away with more explicit content, but some parts will be difficult for sure.

Looks like this thread has sort of become an Ever Crisis thread.

 

[Theozilla]

Don't forget that the dialogue in the OG version of the game was more a artifact of old scenario concepts (as in that dialogue was originally spoken by someone in some old version of the Nibelheim flashback that Cloud was "remembering" but that scene then got cut/changed) that got cut in the final product but they kinda forget to remove the dialogue from that part of the game. It's why people sometimes thought that dialogue was from Zack.

 

[TurquoiseHammer]

I agree that piece of dialogue got "stranded," especially in the English version where it makes no sense because the activation phrase is translated differently later. But I don't see how that negates it as evidence that Ever Crisis will match the OG continuity.
Also, making Ever Crisis a demake of Remake—or, worse, a third continuity—makes absolutely no sense to me. What would that accomplish? My impression from the get go was that aside from, you know, generating revenue, Ever Crisis is supposed to serve as a sort of pocket guide for all the compilation's lore, with bits of new info sprinkled in, so that players don't need to hunt down YouTube playthroughs of Before Crisis or buy a PSP to play Crisis Core in 2021.

 

[Theozilla]

Oh I definitely agree Ever Crisis is basically meant to be a pocket guide to the Compilation, I just doubt recreating the OG exactly is the primary thing in mind for EC, rather than it being a collective compilation of stuff in general.

 

[TurquoiseHammer]

Actually I don't know why I didn't do this earlier but I checked and the script is not the same. I just assumed because... bad memory :')
I agree, I think they'll be pretty loose with the presentation. I think they'll even skip large segments or make them on-rails. Long combat-less sequences like the Honeybee Inn and the Gold Saucer won't mesh well with the gacha template unless they just huck random enemies onto the screen for no reason, which I guess I wouldn't put it past them. It would be really neat if we see some of the unused or even unincluded script (Sephiroth's line about the reactor, his explanation about summons, Barret's line about treating AVALANCHE at the Cosmo Canyon hot springs, etc.) thrown back into Ever Crisis. That would really make for a meta experience!

 

[OWA-2]

I remember reading that the FFVII scenario of EC will be only 9 or 10 chapters, with the first 3 being Midgar. If that's the case, EC will be more of a summary of the whole Compilation, than an actual remake.

 

[Sephiroth Crescent]

I remember reading that the FFVII scenario of EC will be only 9 or 10 chapters, with the first 3 being Midgar. If that's the case, EC will be more of a summary of the whole Compilation, than an actual remake.

IIRC, the words used in japanese were "about ten chapters" (but implying those were a bare minimum).

 

[NaoyaShinota]

I hope that with First Soldier and Ever Crisis when it is out, will get some japanese fans nastolgic about the FF Mobile games to the point of asking for them. Mainly cause they have played them and not so much of outside of japan has played them. And that I feel like they will listen to Japanese audience more than outside cause that was the market of FF mobile. Also I just can't wait for First Soldier. Not a fan of that type of game but would like to see more of the Compilation of FFVII. Hopefully the story will be good. I know there will be a pre-registration in October but not sure what that is like. Then it comes out in November. Hoping that it does come out in early November.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

I'm planning on buying a tablet for this and EC. Does anyone know if the minimum operating specs needed for either game have been specified?

 

[Shademp]

This website claims certain minimum specs for TFS but it doesn't link back straight to the supposed Square Enix source.

Keep in mind this is info from before the beta trial.
EDIT: The English Square Enix support page

B Article: 80254
KB Category: [Product Specifications]
KB Sub-category: [Beta Test]

What are the minimum recommended device specifications to play the game?

Below are the minimum recommended device specifications:

Android
64-bit Android OS version 7.1 or higher, 3 GB or more system memory

*Recommended device specifications may change for the official release version of the game.
*Unforeseen errors and technical issues may arise in the beta version of the game.

EDIT #2: Info from the Japanese support page for TFS. This provides a complete source for the info in the article linked earlier.

推奨端末は下記の通りです。

iOS：13.0以降iPhone 8以降 (システムメモリ2GB以上)の端末
Android：7.1以降 64bit対応 (システムメモリ3GB以上)の端末

※正式サービス時の推奨端末とは異なる場合があります。
※βテストのため、予期しない不具合が発生する可能性があります。

Recommended devices are as follows

iOS: 13.0 or later iPhone 8 or later (2GB or more system memory)
Android: 7.1 or later 64bit compatible (3GB or more system memory)

*This may differ from the recommended devices at the time of official service.
*Because this is a beta test, there is a possibility that unexpected problems may occur.

 

[waw]

I remember reading that the FFVII scenario of EC will be only 9 or 10 chapters, with the first 3 being Midgar. If that's the case, EC will be more of a summary of the whole Compilation, than an actual remake.

I've seen this too. I can't imagine they'll make this game and leave it so short. Record keeper kept expanding and that's my thought here. Gacha are about adding expansions.

 

[Tetsujin]

I'm planning on buying a tablet for this and EC. Does anyone know if the minimum operating specs needed for either game have been specified?

Why not use Bluestacks on PC?

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Why not use Bluestacks on PC?

Well, that doesn't sound particularly portable. Also, though, my phone is my current PC. lol

 

[TurquoiseHammer]

Just stumbled across the theory (from Ray Coffman) that the blond guy in the helicopter could be Cloud's father and/or the genetic source for clone Cloud. I haven't watched the full video yet, just wondering what people's initial reactions are. Honestly my brain is too fired right now to even start evaluating if this can fit into the timeline. Notably, their faces do look extremely similar, though we've already seen lots of asset reuse in Remake.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Clone Cloud is just Cloud with mako and Jenova cells.

 

[TurquoiseHammer]

He means like a clone from birth, not just the Sephiroth Copy he is in the OG.

Is it remotely possible this guy is Cloud's father? Technically, yes, I think so. All we know is Cloud's dad disappeared when he was young while up in the mountains and everyone presumed he was dead. Unless I'm forgetting something else in the new novella. How on earth he'd end up in the SOLDIER program is beyond me, though.

Do I think Nibelheim was a big Truman show type Shinra experiment even before the incident with Sephiroth? No. I also don't think it would have any narrative payoff to reveal that Cloud has been a genetic experiment from the beginning. Part of his whole appeal is that he's a weakling who became strong not by some superman gene-splicing program but from confronting his own failures and gathering strength from and lending strength to the companions around him. Assuming Remake follows the OG in at least some vague narrative sense, it would be a real downer to discover Cloud is in fact not a straight up fabrication by Hojo and then to be let down by finding out he's a different kind of clone altogether.

 

[Odysseus]

I don't want to spoil anybody's fun, but I really think this is the last game you should read anything into or expect to give you anything of actual substance to think about. Saying that a Square Enix character looks like another Square Enix character is like saying the sky is blue lol.

 

[Thenir]

Yeah, I wouldn't put too much weight on physical similarities - btw I don't even see them that similar aside being both blond, to be honest.
Then...I think there's no point in "elevating" Cloud's status as the son of a SOLDIER. For me he works well the way he is without linking his merits to parental genetics.

Moreover - a moral issue - Claudia got pregnant when she was 16. If this man was in his 20s at the beginning of the SOLDIERs program he would have been around 30 when Cloud was born. I can already hear people kick up a fuss.