ForceStealer
Double Growth
If anything they made the Hardedge MORE cartoony
Since when was Cloud using his weapon, he was just punching, wasn't he?
Also, that one-in-one is a spiritual battle. The physical weapon Cloud may have had would be irrelevant. It's only a visualization and projection for his spirit to use.
And honestly, Cloud's Buster Sword isn't the only iconic weapon of his. The Ultima Weapon is showcased in the Dissidia series along with the Forcestealer. Those swords certainly have permanence and notoriety among FF fans as well. The Buster Sword is the most iconic but not the only one.
If the Buster Sword can be upgraded ala the Kingdom Key in KH3 and allowed to be relevant that way, not as the strongest weapon but a solid well-rounded weapon with a unique and helpful passive ability, that would be cool and acceptable.
But it would be a glaring and unnecessary change which needlessly flies in the face of the OG, to shoehorn the Buster Sword as the strongest weapon of all. It simply isn't,
It never was. It was Zack's final weapon and Cloud isn't Zack.
Crisis Core shouldn't be changing the reality of the game because this isn't Zack's story nor a sole testament to him. The weapon Cloud picks up after killing Ultima Weapon is his Ultimate Weapon. A blade of energy obtained from slaying one of the strongest monsters is Cloud's strongest sword. Each character finding their strongest weapon with unique and powerful properties and appearances is one of the most iconic elements of FFVII. That doesn't get to be replaced for Cloud because of Zack.
Why would it have anything to do with Zack other than having once been his? And as I said, you're assuming that the remake will include the events of CC into it's timeline, but we don't know that yet, so it's premature to include its events into any assumptions. From what's shown in the OG alone, we only know that Zack used to have Buster, that's all. The OG never shows anything of what he did with it before Nibelheim. You said it would fly in the face of the OG to make Buster upgradable to ultimate level, but you never said how solely in terms of the OG without relying on anything from CC.
Buster could be upgradable to be of comparable power to Ultima Weapon but have each them have their own strengths and weaknesses so each one could be useful in different situations. That would allow them both to shine in the endgame.
Because it is going to use and re-imagine at least some elements of Crisis Core, presumably elements attached to VII and relevant to the story. Why wouldn't it? It's certainly not divorcing it or outright ignoring it, especially while simultaneously lifting some it's designs, setting materials and even Easter eggs. Not an assumption, just an observable fact.
Why? If something is as strong as the Ultima Weapon, why have it be the "Ultimate Weapon?" FFVII doesn't have multi-class weapon system ala FFXIII where multiple variants and offshoots of the same weapons exist, and trying to make it like that misses the point of what makes VII, VII.
The Ultimate Weapon.. Is the strongest of its class. Shoehorning another weapon in its role, especially for the reason it just being another character's ulimate weapon, diminishes and misses the point of this being about FFVII and Cloud's unique story. The story that's after Crisis Core. Cloud isn't Zack. The Buster Sword isn't his final, Ultimate Weapon.
@Roger
So you’re arguing that Cloud’s more “cartoony” or “overly-fantasy” weapons should be got rid of to align with Barret’s melee weapons likely being ditched? But one could just as easily argue that Barret’s short-range weapons could simply be replaced with new long-range ones. And even possibly more fantastical looking ones than we’re used to for the character, given the title of the series.
I don't think they will ditch Barret's melee weapons. He's more than just a long range fighter (of which there are two with Vincent), but he's more specifically the tank of the team, so for those weapons, they simply focus on that aspect more.
I get what you’re saying but the whole point is mixing fantasy elements with real-life elements, which is what they did in the OG game and - funnily enough - in XV too. Plenty of weird and wacky stuff there (enemies, summons etc.) alongside the roads and Stand By Me. Anyway this is just an aesthetic difference of opinion I guess.Despite the title of the series, the last main entry into the series started with you having to push your car on the highway to the petrol station where you can buy meals at the store and stay a night in a camping trailer. Might as well call it Final Ordinarity XV.
They redesigned the 7th Heaven to look more like what it would look like in reality. They redesigned Tifa's outfit to be a bit more in keeping with what she'd ought to wear. They redesigned Barret's first gunarm and don't seem to give you his second one in the Guard Scorpion fight. We'll be staring at the big swords Cloud caries on his back for most of these games, it'd be a shame if they didn't look like they belonged in the same world as everything else.
I expect enemies only long range fighters can hit will continue to appear throughout the games. And we'll only get Vincent at the tail-end of Part 2 at the earliest. And they already heavily adjusted the dimensions of the Hardedge so Cloud can fight with it similiarly as he fights with the Buster Sword.
I'm guessing that the materia that were very reliant on the turn-based system will probably go, like 2x cut doesn't really make sense when you can mash the attack button as much as you want.