LicoriceAllsorts
Donator
Good point.
Hopes for Remake & Rebirth (story/content)
- Thread starter Ⓐaron
- Start date
- Status
Gary Caelum
Pro Adventurer
- AKA
- Gary Caelum
Now that I've said that, I bet they make Vincent and Yuffie mandatory. Them being optional does feel like a weird dated design choice.
pxp
Pro Adventurer
https://www.resetera.com/threads/in...teams-workflow-level-design-combat-etc.93309/
Haven’t re-read it recently so I may be wrong, but I think there’re a few bits and pieces in there which chime with what @LicoriceAllsorts was saying.
It's outdated in that to do so now wouldn't be the reason they were optional before; Characters that the developers really really liked but just couldn't find the time to work fully into the game so half-measures had to be made. Given the opportunity, they might still have been optional but the ability to incorporate them more fully into the game is also there.
At this point SE is relying less and less on prerecorded CGI footage to tell their stories. Games like Kingdom Hearts pretty much didn't use FMVs at all except as eye candy for the introduction and ending of each game. Games like FFXIII-2 have even started incorporating fully real-time sequences where the exact same events can happen but with alternate costumes.
In the era of the PS4 and soon PS5, it's likely going to be possible to have entirely different sequences of events play out in real time based on different event flags, and storage space and the decrease in required file-size to portray prerecorded high quality CGI means that even alternative CGs with different character is a potential option should they feel the need to go that route.
With that said, there's nothing to say they need to be manditory, except a presumption that any hard work put into those optional characters could possibly not be acknowledged if a player (somehow) decided not to pursue those characters. I can't imagine why anyone would skip out on two of the more popular B-roll playable characters, but there you go.
Gary Caelum
Pro Adventurer
- AKA
- Gary Caelum
I wasn't saying "dated" to mean bad. It's just something you wouldn't see nowadays. When was the last time a linear story-driven game had major characters like this as optional? It's something you only see in other gaming genres nowadays. Never in a story-driven RPG.
The first time I played FF7, I actually didn't get either of them. Which is so weird to imagine now, with how well loved these characters are. Vincent especially is one of the most popular in the game.
Last edited:
donkeyjack
Pro Adventurer
I mean unless it was Chrono Cross. I don't think it is bad that Vincent and Yuffie are no longer optional characters. I don't even think that is dated.
Ite
Save your valediction (she/her)
- AKA
- Ite
Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Pillars of Eternity, Xenoblade Chronicles, basically any RPG that uses party dynamics rather than solo character...?
ForceStealer
Double Growth
Yeah I wouldn't consider the practice dated. Vincent and his story does reveal such crucial elements of FF7's plot that he likely never should have been optional, though. Yuffie could be.
Clement Rage
Pro Adventurer
Surely it wouldn't be so difficult to do alternate versions, though?
jazzflower92
Pro Adventurer
- AKA
- The Girl With A Strong Opinion
They were made optional, due to budget cuts.
Gary Caelum
Pro Adventurer
- AKA
- Gary Caelum
Which of the main characters in Mass Effect and Xenoblade Chronicles are optional? DLC doesn't count. That has to be optional by its very nature.
Ite
Save your valediction (she/her)
- AKA
- Ite
I wouldn’t say a play through without Vincent cripples the story. I think you can get the full FF7 experience without knowing anything about Lucrecia or the details of how the Jenova Project went down, and this is coming from a guy whose novelization of FF7 is called "The Jenova Project." It's great lore, sure, and it can make the final showdown with Hojo more dramatic -- if you care about Vincent and his story. But they aren't exactly intermeshed with the main plot.
- Wrex
- Grunt
- Legion
- Samara
- Thane
- Morinth
- Everyone in Mass Effect 3
- Garrus
- Wrex
- Grunt
- Legion
- Samara
- Thane
- Morinth
- Everyone in Mass Effect 3
Gary Caelum
Pro Adventurer
- AKA
- Gary Caelum
So they are. Lol I didn't notice that because I always just recruited all of them.
Was this true in the newest Mass Effect? I didn't play that.
I still don't think it's true in Xenoblade Chronicles though. Unless I've completely not noticed that too....
Last edited:
Gary Caelum
Pro Adventurer
- AKA
- Gary Caelum
I'm 90% sure it isn't true in the original Xenoblade Chronicles though. It's been a while since I played it, but I'm sure I would've noticed that, because all of the main characters, except maybe Ricki, are essential to the story.
ForceStealer
Double Growth
I mean you specifically have to choose between Samara and Morinth, iirc
Gary Caelum
Pro Adventurer
- AKA
- Gary Caelum
I remember you had to choose which to help in the confrontation. But I always went with Samara so I had no idea Morinth joined your party if you went with her.
That trilogy was indeed awesome. Doesn't look like Bioware will ever reach those heights again sadly.
That trilogy was indeed awesome. Doesn't look like Bioware will ever reach those heights again sadly.
Ite
Save your valediction (she/her)
- AKA
- Ite
No, sadly not, and it really isn't fair to compare anything to the Mass Effect trilogy. It's an absolutely insane RPG. But I hope the point is illustrated that optional and secret characters are something that 'modern gamers' still want/appreciate. "I got Cloud in FF Tactics!" is a great way to engage the gaming community.
Player choice affecting the narrative has always been kind of an illusion in FF. "Of course it's happening inside your head, [gamer], but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"
Player choice affecting the narrative has always been kind of an illusion in FF. "Of course it's happening inside your head, [gamer], but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"
XxREUNIONxX
Rookie Adventurer
Yuffie and Vincent have become such integral/iconic characters over time, it's a bit difficult for me to imagine them as optional in the remake. While they could still find a way to keep them optional and important to the plot, I'd rather have them written in as major characters and to have thier roles expanded.
It would be more interesting, I think, if they were to add some optional party members not present in the original. There is a large supporting cast that could be included. Reno and Rude would be good candidates in the last part of the game. That said, the developers already have a lot on thier hands creating gameplay mechanics for all the og characters. Only time will tell.
It would be more interesting, I think, if they were to add some optional party members not present in the original. There is a large supporting cast that could be included. Reno and Rude would be good candidates in the last part of the game. That said, the developers already have a lot on thier hands creating gameplay mechanics for all the og characters. Only time will tell.
Ite
Save your valediction (she/her)
- AKA
- Ite
For those of us who feel Yuffie and Vincent are not-to-be-missed, any content that they add for those characters will be well appreciated.
The *last* thing I want, however, is for the developers to feel overly precious about their work, lamenting that some players will miss this or skip that. If there’s only one way the story can go, that means I’ll only play it once, and the OG is already the better game.
The *last* thing I want, however, is for the developers to feel overly precious about their work, lamenting that some players will miss this or skip that. If there’s only one way the story can go, that means I’ll only play it once, and the OG is already the better game.
Wutai is where that'd likely happen. Otherwise there's no much opportunity.
Gary Caelum
Pro Adventurer
- AKA
- Gary Caelum
That whole Wutai storyline being optional is perhaps even more extreme than Yuffie being optional.
That's a big juicy chunk of content right there.
That's a big juicy chunk of content right there.
- Status