Is Final Fantasy VII Remake GOTY-worthy? (*Open Spoilers*)

[The Twilight Mexican]

That doesn't really answer the question @KindOfBlue asked, though, does it?

I imagine one would get similar overall numbers among English-speaking/reading players, but even among those who are very pleased with the overall experience, there's plenty of evidence right here on our forum to indicate that the story changes are ... almost digested separately from the whole of the rest of the game.

 

[KindOfBlue]

I think what I’m most curious about is how cultural differences may or may not be a factor in how Western audiences respond to these kinds of ideas compared to Japanese audiences, though I would assume somebody who hated the ending probably wouldn’t describe the experience as “very satisfying” or “quite satisfying”?

 

[Makoeyes987]

If numbers from a Famitsu survey of players who've played the game in Japan aren't indicative, all you have left is anecdotal evidence. I'm not sure what else would qualify as an answer

The aggregate of self reported opinions from the Japanese audience has been overwhelmingly positive. Regarding the culture, that's up for debate although I'm not sure what specific cultural trends would be at work here, other than the types of narrative fantasy tropes seen in anime emerging here in a JRPG inspired by anime. But that's not really surprising, is it?

That's hardly new at all. FFVII started that way and of course the Remake would reflect that too.

 

[KindOfBlue]

although I'm not sure what specific cultural trends would be at work here, other than the types of narrative fantasy tropes seen in anime emerging here in a JRPG inspired by anime.

I just know generally when I introduce anything Japanese to my fellow gaijin friends who aren’t already into stuff like anime, I usually have to explain certain things with “because it’s Japan” so I just wonder how differently Japanese and Western audiences respond to this stuff

 

[Saven]

It's up there with the Dallas cop out "it's all a dream" ending. It's the same as the star war remakes too.

I mean, think about it. If you ignore the fate ghosts flying around half the game ruining beautiful moments between Aerith and Cloud meeting for the first time (for example) the game was remade pretty well. All of a sudden in the last chapter they must have all sat around a table and gone "let's turn this into an LSD trip". How on earth did this nonsense get through a meeting?

Of course we can criticise it. It's their property naturally but I can still burn down my own house and make the thing gastly to look at. If you create something brilliant and fantastic which people have grown up loving then it belongs to everyone and they have a right to be pissed off when Sephiroth is blah blah blahing from start to finish destroying any mystic or character build up or going to the edge of the universe to have s conversation about 7 second till...the end?


It's all so shallow. It's all so....Square Enix. They haven't made a good story in decades and they thought they could improve one of the greatest stories ever told in gaming? What arrogance.

Come on, it wasn't that bad. I'm not the biggest fan of the Whispers either (so far), but you are gonna dismiss an entire game over something that happens in the last hour, and we don't even have the full explanation on what they are yet? Based on what we've seen narrative-wise from this game, Square-Enix could actually make it work. I wouldn't dismiss the entire remake yet.

 

[Smoothie King]

You can please some of the people some of the time but you can't please all of the people all of the time. This game had impossible expectations and I think the developers had a lot of courage to make the storytelling decisions they made. Were the Whispers the best way to convey that specific meta-narrative? Maybe not. But I haven't heard anyone come up with a better idea. It's easy for fans to pretend that they are storytellers. What we ended up with is, to me, a great video gaming experience. I didn't love chapter 18 and I thought the last boss fight was unnecessary, but who knows? Maybe in the context of the larger story it will age well. And I will say on the second playthrough I liked it better than on the first.

 

[Littlewing]

Obviously Grand Theft V will win for sure.

 

[Littlewing]

Oh wait I mean , Grand Theft Auto Cato Perico is a major contender for the a RE-remake to contend with, what with how GTA transcends even years, time and age and just overall breaks time, the law, and the space time continuum itself.

Straight from the underground!