Hopes for Remake & Rebirth (gameplay/combat)

[X-SOLDIER]

This is gonna be the "what do you want" thread for all of the "Open World vs. World Map" "Active Combat vs. Turn-Based" etc. type discussions, while we're still waiting for Winter for more details so that we can leave the other thread more for storyline type content, and keep all the discussions more focused.

(If someone wants to prune out posts from the old thrad to move them here, it'd be appreciated)



X

 

[Lord Noctis]

I would very much prefer open world and active combat myself.

I don't mind turn based combat, but its just not as fun for me as a more action oriented combat system like what FFXV has.

As for open world, I dunno, I just like the sense of exploration I get in an open world setting as opposed to a world map.

 

[ForceStealer]

The only issue with open world-iness is maintaining the scale necessary given that you traverse the entire planet in FF7. Not sure how you do that unless you really scale down the world. Or at least have several large, but separate instanced areas?

 

[Blade]

Let's put it this way:

Mime + Quad Summon + Knights of the Round + HP/MP Absorb should NOT be enough to kill everything in this game.

 

[Lord Noctis]

The only issue with open world-iness is maintaining the scale necessary given that you traverse the entire planet in FF7. Not sure how you do that unless you really scale down the world. Or at least have several large, but separate instanced areas?

The bolded part seems like a good idea. I'd be be fairly happy if they went that route.

 

[Roger]

So a FFXII style airship then?

 

[Lord Noctis]

Maybe? I'm not really familiar with how FFXII did things past the first few areas.

 

[Knuxson]

I want Cait Sith to fight atop/with the mog...and zero Cait Sith stealth gameplay.

 

[Zee]

i want ffxiii style combat bite m e haters

 

[AvecAloes]

I would really like to be able to input commands. Whether that be through an ATB turn-based system like the original game (which I kind of think would be unlikely) or some sort of hybrid like XIII's (which, I know, you could really just let it set the commands automatically, but having the option to quickly choose and input multiple commands for chains was a lot of fun), I don't care. I don't really want to have a system purely like XV's, where only one character is playable and the others are just AI. I want to be the one telling Cloud et al to cast lightning at Carry Armor and wreck that shit up.

AND YOU BETTER GIVE ME SLOT REELS YOU JERKS

 

[55-]

I was chatting with a friend about the issue of world maps. Brought up gold chocobos, and how ridiculous it would be to use on anything other than a representative world map. Just running completely over buildings.

My friend only played the original for the first time very recently (because I yelled at him to a lot, and then i got to watch him). Something that really stood out to him was the wutai sidequest. The way you can just stumble into it organically. Then, it doesn't force you to do the sidequest, but, you know you have to. You won't get far without any materia. My friend really likes world maps. I think it might end up looking very silly. Nice graphics only exaggerate things like the issues of proportions. Large expanses of land without civilization and the ancient's key being larger than the submarine. They could do a FFX world map deal, where it's a literal map and you tell Cid, "go there" and off you go. But in my opinion, that takes away all of the excitement of exploration.
I personally would LOVE an open world deal, even if it was a compressed world like in FFX. I love feeling like I exist in a space. If Midgar looks so tiny that I can actually see the sky from anywhere, like in CC, I am going to be very disappointed. But, I also know in my heart that the image of the ideal open world I have in my head, that I want SO BADLY, is probably not something they're capable of at the moment. If I had my way I'd be spending hours assassin's creeding my way all over and around the streets and buildings of Midgar, but they're not going to spend that much time just focusing on what I want.

 

[clowd]

The only issue with open world-iness is maintaining the scale necessary given that you traverse the entire planet in FF7. Not sure how you do that unless you really scale down the world. Or at least have several large, but separate instanced areas?

I'd be fine with doing the world map like FFXII. That felt open enough for me. A linear game like FFX/FFXIII will absolutely not work. FFVII was not linear at all. OK maybe it a general sense it was, but you had more then a 5 foot wide path to follow to the next area/town. It had a very good sense of freedom and exploration. Whatever method they use, they need to recapture that.

Just scale the whole world down, maybe it takes 5 minutes to walk from Midgar to Kalm instead of 5 seconds, and 15 minutes to get to the Chocobo farm. Next gen game worlds like The Witcher 3 are MASSIVE. Its world map is 150 square kilometers. I think they could do the FF7 world plenty of justice at 1/3 that size. 50 square kilometers would be plenty. And you have to remember something like 70% of the world map is water, so its not as much work as it sounds like.

They need to really focus on the cities. Thats what made the PS1 FFs stand out IMO. Wall Market must be epic. And Midgar of course. Rocket Town and so on.

The battle system could use alot more balancing. Blade made some good points. For example I'd like to see the effectiveness of the hero drink reduced greatly for example.

Theres so much to talk about, this is not even the tip of the iceberg.

 

[Dolorian]

They could definitely nerf some things (MIME + Summon materia spam and the like) so as to give the difficulty a much needed bump. The OG is rather easy as it is.

As far as actual battle mechanics goes, I am expecting them to change this quite a bit and I would welcome it too if done right. I would definitely like a setup similar to XII with seamless exploration/battle as opposed to separate screens and where you can set up the AI of your characters but can also take over any of them at any time and input commands directly. That said, I definitely wouldn't want a setup like XV where you only control one character. Being able to swap party members in an out during battle like in X would also be great.

In terms of other things, I would like them to implement fully the vehicles like the buggy, submarine, tiny bronco and the highwind as they are such an integral part of the story and the world's exploration that it would feel quite odd to take them out or do them in a way similar to X or XII.

 

[Kai Schulen]

So a FFXII style airship then?

If they deprive me of being able to fly the Highwind around while listening to The Highwind Takes To The Skies I will legitimately shank a bitch They can't take that out, how else are we going to be able to chase down the Ultimate Weapon?

I think it'd be more practical that you can call the Highwind to pick you up via PHS and enable autopilot to a location if you so wished, but at the same time have it so that you can manually steer the ship yourself. (But, I guess we'll have to wait and see how XV handles the open world map.)

As for the battle system...I kinda hope that it can be bit action oriented? It always bothered me in XII and XIII that you can't really do anything to dodge or avoid the enemy's attack when you're standing 50 feet away from them and somehow Fira always manages to hit me.

 

[Lex]

I know we're talking about OP'd materia and going "let's nerf it because it kills everything" but I've got to be honest, I strongly disagree with that. KOTR kills everything because it takes a ridiculous amount of time and effort to get. Who the hell would bother with it if it wasn't OP?

 

[Clement Rage]

It'll never happen, but level caps like FF13

 

[Splintered]

Even without knights of the round, Final Fantasy VII was the easiest FF, at least that I've played, to date. There's a need to bump up the difficulty.

... But I also really really enjoy being able to break the game and experiment with materia. Materia set ups and finding out which ones were the best is part of the charm. I've honestly met people who really do enjoy games where emphasis is on manipulating the system rather than difficulty. There needs to be a balance.

I'm more on the side that it should reflect the old fighting system and not be action oriented. Maybe something like X-2 without the dresspheres, where input commands are done immediately. At the same time, I hope that there's more a difference between characters in FFVII so everyone doesn't have to be anything, that or make customization drastically affect characters more.

I'm for the world map, even if you've got to old style chibi the characters to fit it. It's a lot harder to work in vehicles like the highwind without it.

I know we're talking about OP'd materia and going "let's nerf it because it kills everything" but I've got to be honest, I strongly disagree with that. KOTR kills everything because it takes a ridiculous amount of time and effort to get. Who the hell would bother with it if it wasn't OP?

Seriously though. Even when W-item glitching greens and save state abusing for the right chocobo, and restore-stamina cheating it takes hours so if you get knotr good for you.

 

[Animexcel]

Ahhh, I just wish for it to have the option for Japanese audio and english subtitles

 

[Wolf_]

The game is very easy. No matter where you are in the game it provides you with the tools for the job. (Elemental and bio) before the specimen that poisons you, adamant bangle (huge def and none/next to no materia slots) for a certain irritating section of the game. you get a counter to virtually every boss in the game right before it. I wonder if they keep the materia slots or they have the absorb into the body deal like in movie. That way your materia usage could depend on your level. I really hope they sort all the bugs out (mag def) apart from the w item glitch. Love that glitch.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

As someone who enjoys manipulating variables as opposed to beating difficult games, I have to say that I really hope FFVII stays somewhat close to it's roots. TBH, this is one of the things that has been the most off-putting about the whole FFXIII series. I feel like I can't manipulate anything to get anywhere and have to play the game it wants to be played instead of how I want to play it.

FFVII and FFVIII are my favorite games in the series not just because they have good stories, but because they are also the most flexible. No matter what type of playstyle I want to play as, they are still winable and don't punish me for it. Which leads to games having greater longevity for me. FFXIII I'm probably never going to play again, because I get board of beating a game the same way over and over. FFVII and FFVIII will always be on my hard-drive as I can play them a different way each time.

 

[ForceStealer]

Yeah, nerfing KotR is stupid. It's the ultimate move in the game, those are ALWAYS overpowered. That's why they exist. But yes, the game can be tougher, sure. It'll probably have difficulty levels, most Square games do these days.

And materia is tied to equipment, that absorbing into your arm stuff should just be for the only-partially-corporeal Remnants.

 

[AerithLives]

The game is very easy. No matter where you are in the game it provides you with the tools for the job. (Elemental and bio) before the specimen that poisons you, adamant bangle (huge def and none/next to no materia slots) for a certain irritating section of the game. you get a counter to virtually every boss in the game right before it. I wonder if they keep the materia slots or they have the absorb into the body deal like in movie. That way your materia usage could depend on your level. I really hope they sort all the bugs out (mag def) apart from the w item glitch. Love that glitch.

Remember the Water Ring right before the Jenova after Aeris dies? It made you immortal. lol So easy!

 

[ultima espio]

I'd prefer the battle system stays the same. Maybe speed it up a little, but not something completely different. It should stay very close to it's roots.

Though it could do with a difficulty increase. It gets really easy once your materia levels up, to the point where you can one shot kill bosses.

 

[Flintlock]

As someone who enjoys manipulating variables as opposed to beating difficult games, I have to say that I really hope FFVII stays somewhat close to it's roots. TBH, this is one of the things that has been the most off-putting about the whole FFXIII series. I feel like I can't manipulate anything to get anywhere and have to play the game it wants to be played instead of how I want to play it.

The problem I have is that there are only really a few difficult bosses in the whole game - Materia Keeper, Demon's Gate, Schizo and Carry Armor are the four I usually mention - which isn't enough to keep me interested. There are some other bosses who feel like they ought to be more difficult based on their importance to the story, so I wouldn't mind seeing those adjusted. For example, without being impossible, Jenova BIRTH is a nice challenge for inexperienced players, forcing them to think about things like formation and party choice for probably the first time in the game (unless they're overlevelled), but Jenova LIFE and Jenova DEATH are literally impossible to lose against if you equip the right armour/accessories and don't start attacking yourself. They could definitely do with a non-elemental attack each to make them more interesting. Other bosses just need their AI tweaked a bit, like Jenova SYNTHESIS and Safer Sephiroth.

You make a good point, however, that it's fun to be able to play the game in lots of different ways. I'd be sad if the game became so difficult that there was only one viable strategy for each boss, but I severely doubt that's going to happen. I'd just like a few more changes for the sake of balance.

 

[Shademp]

Break the damage cap. Let 9999 be the default limit but then provide ways to break it. I'm not sure what method would provide the best gameplay experience. An accessory that breaks the damage cap for one character or for all characters in the party? Damage cap broken when a character's limit level is set to 4?

I hope the designers do something fun here. An important part of the FFVII experience is when you get to deal ridiculous amount of damage. Looking at you 4x-cut.