Hopes for Remake & Rebirth (story/content)

[Odysseus]

Hell, Junon is pretty much the only city besides Midgar. Everywhere else is just a Podunk town or village except for Wutai. I expect the infiltration will be a bigger set piece than just a series of minigames this time.

 

[Roger]

Hell, Junon is pretty much the only city besides Midgar. Everywhere else is just a Podunk town or village except for Wutai. I expect the infiltration will be a bigger set piece than just a series of minigames this time.

Think they'll have to expand the Corel area to show that the employees of the Golden Saucer aren't just subsisting in North Corel/Corel Prison shacks and the like.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

My hope was alway that they would show us substantial towns shimmering on the horizon. We wouldn't be able to visit them, but they would give the sense that this world has more places in it than the few that we visit.

 

[Odysseus]

I don't know, I always kind of enjoyed how bizarrely dissonant FF7's world is. There's two cities both built by the same mega-corporation within the past ~30 years, and everywhere else seems pre-industrial revolution. Towns like Kalm and Nibelhiem are clearly retrofitted with Mako technology, and barely any vehicles or infrastructure seem to exist. Its like Shinra's technology is some horrible aberration that disrupted the natural order of things.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I know, but it bothers me that their economy isn't big enough to support a megacorporation like Shinra.

 

[Odysseus]

You just blew my mind right now. There really is like zero market for Shinra to have amassed its power under. I guess you could assume they rose to power and profitibility during the vaguely implied "Pre-Wutai war" war that Cid references once. The issue is that Wutai is the only distinct nation on FF7's world, the other three continents don't have names and have no real unified identity. Shinra seems like the only governing body, but there must have been some other ruling systems in place for a war to have been held when Shinra was just a weapons manufacturer. There's zero trace left in the game of a government outside of Shinra though, they completely dominate the world. VII's world makes no sense when you give it this level of thought.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Cracks knuckles.
Let me tell you about the history of their world which I have developed to explain Shinra's rise to power...
Nah I'm kidding I wouldn't inflict that on you.

An eagle eyed fanfic friend over on tumblr noticed this:

One of the NPCs in Sector 5 near the Community Center remarks: “You know my grandfather helped build the plate!” This dude is probably at least 70 or so, and it was his grandpa doing the building. That’s two generations ago.
Guys. The oldest sections of the Plate are nearly 100yrs old!
Canon Timeline cluster notwithstanding, that would put the earliest sections of the plate c1900. And the architecture of various areas backs this up.

She did a whole analysis of the different architectural styles and their comparative age. Given the loving attention to detail lavished on the air conditioners, I would not be at all surprised to find that the artists who designed Midgar did their research and want us to draw some conclusions regarding Midgar's age and history.

Two of the things I was hoping to see going on in the background of the open world were railways and roads. The party's need to avoid detection is sufficient to explain why they don't travel on the roads or railways; alternatively, they can get the buggy earlier. Or whatever.

I really love how in under-Midgar all the sectors are walled off from each other. Divide and rule! But of course the slums dwellers have blown holes in the walls or tunnelled under them, and Shinra seems unwilling, or uninterested, or incapable of cracking down. Probably all three.

In the OG, it was implied or maybe even stated that Midgar was once seven villages and Shinra built its city on top of them. They have forgotten their names, but they are still attached to their land. Those lines are gone from the remake, and yet we see some architecture in the slums, such as Aerith's church, which is clearly a remnant of better days.

 

[Odysseus]

Its established that Midgar was built in 30 years though, isn't it? Shinra's entire rise to power supposedly happened during Presiden't Shinra's lifetime, right? It would make a lot more sense for Midgar and Shinra to be much older, that way you could assume Shinra slowly surplanted the previous power structure across multiple generations, but I'm not sure that's actually the case. Also,

it was implied or maybe even stated that Midgar was once seven villages and Shinra built its city on top of them.

You just made me realize this little lore tidbit was omitted in the Remake.

 

[Rydeen]

I was disappointed that that whole thing was omitted from Jessie's dialog.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Well, in the OG canon it was strongly implied that President Shinra built Midgar (in the sense of planning and paying for it), and TBH that photo of him labouring at something that we see in the museum is probably meant to be him getting his hands dirty building on the building site. Man of the people and all. But still, Sector 5 retiree's Grandpa helped build the plate. That's Remake canon.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Its established that Midgar was built in 30 years though, isn't it?

Yes, it's been emphasized and re-emphasized that all this construction has only been over the past 30 years.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Well I don't know what to say then, because that line of dialogue is right there. Personally I prefer Midgar being only around 30 years old.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Did the voice sound mismatched? I've heard some folks say that there have been occasions where lines seem to belong to the wrong NPCs.

 

[Odysseus]

I tried running around the community center in chapter 8. The closest dialogue I got was two of the old dudes saying that they themselves helped build the plate years ago.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

That would make more sense. I'll check again. I'm happy to be wrong in this instance.
...
I can't find a video in which Cloud walks right through the Community Centre and talks to everyone. The only line of dialogue I can find relating to a timescale for the building of Midgar is when an older person says, "When I came here years ago the plate was only partially built" (or something very similar).

I guess I'd have to play that chapter again. Oh noes, I'll have to do the Reno battle all over again, what a sad drag, how will I bear it.

 

[Teioh]

I've heard that piece of dialogue whilst playing through Sector 5 although I'm sure it came from a couple of kids. I'll also play Chapter 14 again and see if it's in that Chapter instead.

 

[Teioh]

Okay. No dialogue for Chapter 14 (no one is in the mood to talk apparently, they just grunt at me lol) but I did go back to Chapter 8 and found the ones I heard before. The dialogue comes from a kid and is triggered near where there's two kids on the ground jumping and one on the roof looking down at them, close to the tunnel.

Let's try and jump to the plate!

Let's jump!

I bet you didn't know, but the plate? It was built by our grandfathers!

Not sure if that's the one they're referring to?

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Sounds like it. Nice work, Turk.

 

[Wol]

I hope they'll create more inventive sidequests and dungeons, which makes use of each characters special capabilities.

Imagine going around town with Cait Sith lurking in the shadows, having to investigate a case and provide evidence for it? Or having to use him to sneak into small holes and get that shiny item?

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Or having to use him to sneak into small holes and get that shiny item?

 

[Turlast]

The side-quests were well done here. There were a few that had me sighing a bit, but for the most part, I loved them. With the way they were able to flesh out the Midgar world, the sky's the limit for what they'll be able to with the countless areas in the FFVII universe.

Another thing they did quite well is turn enemies like Swordipede (Sword-Dance) Hell House, and Eligor into formidable boss battles. Brain Pod to a lesser extent falls under this. I'm already excited thinking about enemies like Ghost Ship and the many others you encounter in the original game.

How the characters interacted completely won me over. I know Red XIII wasn't around that long, but the exchanges between him and Barrett towards the end was nothing short of gold. They did a great job portraying these characters in the remake. I can already hear Cid cussing everyone out like a mad man lol. This is going to be a long wait....but I'm okay with that.

 

[Pizzachu]

I hope there is a reference to Elfe. She is my favorite character in Before Crisis.

 

[Rydeen]

I hope there is a reference to Elfe. She is my favorite character in Before Crisis.

Me too! I also hope they delve into how Fuhito's cell fit into the rest of the organization.. I think for sure we will eventually find out why Barret fell out with the rest of them (he was painted as extreme, but that doesn't actually seem to be the case in reality, considering their actions in both BC and the remake). Maybe they will even clash with the party.

 

[Wol]

Customizable options
Bikini outfits also good, Costa Del Sol should sell bikinis, or else it wouldn't be realistic.

 

[oty]

I think this is exactly the kind of route they could, and imo should, take in Part 2. Midgar is the more narrative driven Part, and subsequent installments open up in gameplay and such, even if still reigned in by the narrative. Similar to FFXV and it's own customizable options.